


The Memories

by redtoaster111



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Amnesia, Argo II (Percy Jackson), Awkwardness, Camp Half-Blood (Percy Jackson), Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Idiots in Love, Memory Loss, Minor Hazel Levesque/Frank Zhang, Minor Jason Grace/Piper McLean, Percy never got his memories back, Slow Burn, They really can't catch a break, shenanigans ensue
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-27
Updated: 2021-02-22
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:14:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 34,588
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26989591
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/redtoaster111/pseuds/redtoaster111
Summary: Percy steadied himself under her weight. He had no idea who this girl was, but she clearly knew him. A part of him wanted to lean into the embrace, and pull her closer into his chest. But he also felt like if he didn’t let go of her, something very bad would happen. It felt wrong, letting her hold him, like he wasn’t supposed to be there. But there was also something strange about their embrace. He knew where she would put her hands, and rest her head, and he had felt his instincts take over as soon as their two bodies had made contact.“It’s you?” he whispered tentatively into her hair.“Well duh, Seaweed Brain.”
Relationships: Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson
Comments: 44
Kudos: 147





	1. Percy

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own any of the characters or the plot, all rights reserved to Rick Riordan! Some lines may be taken directly from the text (not many!).

**Percy**

A cold shadow fell over New Rome as the bronze hull of the warship settled over the city. The oars of the boat flickered in the morning sun, and Percy could hear the hum of an engine from inside the ship. Frank and Hazel flanked Percy’s sides as they walked away from the Senate building, his arms around the two of them. 

Frank looked up to the ship and whistled in admiration as Hazel shook her head. “Where was this navy when we had to take a boat to Alaska?” she huffed. Percy laughed quietly remembering the dingy they had taken up the West Coast, but soon a sense of hot dread settled over him.

For months he had wondered about his life before Hera had plucked him up from gods know where. It had been all that kept him alive, thinking about who and what might be waiting for him, _if_ he ever did get his memory back. And now, hopefully, he was on the verge of seeing some familiar faces. Of course, the issue would be that Percy wouldn't recognize them, but a small part of him held out hope that when he saw their faces, it would all come rushing back to him. 

Then again, Percy wasn’t sure if he could take the shock of a new world and new people. Neither New Rome nor Camp Jupiter was totally familiar to him, but he felt at peace with the Romans. Being elected Praetor had solidified that. Now he had Frank and Hazel, as allies and friends, and maybe Reyna, and the respect of most of the campers. 

But Percy knew he had to leave. From the message that had arrived with the Cyclops and the Hellhound, the ship would take him, Frank, and Hazel east with four other demigods, one of them Jason, the Praetor who had gone missing from Camp Jupiter months ago. The seven of them would go and try and fulfill the prophecy that Ella had recited, which on some miracle Percy had recognized from his past life. The giants. Gaia. Greek and Roman demigods. Together. But from the scroll, none of the faces seemed at all familiar to him. Of course, Jason was exactly like everyone described him, but the others were totally unknown. Had he been friends with these people before he was taken? Percy guessed that he would find out soon enough as the ship slowly made its way towards the ground. 

* * *

Last night after the battle, Reyna had pulled him aside to ask him again about his past. She told him her theories that he and Jason had been switched from two camps that had been kept apart; one for the children of the Roman gods, and one for the children of the Greek gods. When her words had hit, Percy had felt a pit form in his stomach. Greek camp. New York? More questions popped into his mind that in a different life may have been answers to his questions, but now just made him more confused. 

“And do you still not remember anyone from your past?” Reyna had asked. “I remember you mentioning dreams you’ve been having of people?” 

Percy shook his head and pulled his hands to his face. He took a deep breath. “I see faces in dreams all of the time, but I forget them as soon as I wake up. I know people have been contacting me, but that’s it. Nothing helpful at least.” 

Reyna nodded her head. “Hmm. I see. And clearly, that Cyclops knows you. He was distressed when he realized that you did not remember him.” 

Percy cringed remembering the single eye tearing up as Percy had confessed he did not remember. “Tyson. I can’t believe he’s my half brother.”

“Hmm. Yes, though I do see the resemblance,” She gave him a small smile. “But Percy, you should be prepared for more hard conversations when your group arrives tomorrow. Both with the Senate and the Greeks.” 

“Ha! My group,” Percy strained a laugh. “I would hardly call it that since I still don’t remember them.” 

Reyna looked at him sternly. “I know this is frustrating, but as a Praetor of New Rome, you must put on a strong face tomorrow. For the Senate meeting and the visitors.” Percy thought that this seemed to be half a reminder for herself. “Prepare your arguments for Hazel and Frank to be the other two who go on the quest. Octavian will not like it, but if that is your wish, I will fight to make it happen.” Reyna’s look softened. 

“Are you sure you’ll be ok if the three of us leave? I know you just got your second Praetor, and now I’m leaving, but I’m sure we could work out a replacement, especially if Jason will be on the ship-” Reyna interrupted him with a cough, shifting in her seat at the mention of her former partner. 

“No, it’ll be fine. That’s too much politics for tomorrow.” Reyna lowered her shoulders, clearly trying to readjust whatever mask she had in place. 

“Alright boss, you got it.” Percy rose from his seat and reached out to take her hand. Reyna greeted him with a firm handshake. Their grip broke, and Percy started for the door as she stopped him. 

“Percy?”

“Yeah, Reyna?” Percy turned to look at her. Her usually strong face was soft and looked distressed. 

“I hope tomorrow clears things up for the both of us. Good luck.” Percy gave her a small smile, and turned and started out the door towards the barracks. 

* * *

Percy readjusted his toga, as he squinted up at the ship, searching to see any figure on board. Frank and Hazel were play fighting about something, and Percy tore his eyes away from the bronze hull to look at his friends. 

Just in the past two days, something had changed around them. Hazel suddenly didn’t look like she wanted to hide from embarrassment whenever Frank would pay attention to her, and he seemed much more at ease around her, his hand slipped comfortably around her. She smiled at him as he teased her about something, and the happiness Percy had felt seconds earlier looking at his friends twisted into something hot and painful in his chest. The pain shot up to his temples, and he could feel his brain working to put something together. Watching Frank and Hazel felt so familiar, as if he was watching a memory of something instead of his friends. The beginning of something that he had known, maybe back home- wherever that was. Suddenly, Percy doubled over. He could smell something sweet- strawberries? And salt. The ocean. And then as quickly as it had come, it was gone. Hazel put her hand on Percy’s shoulder, a concerned look on her face. 

“Percy, are you alright?” She asked, scanning his face. 

“You’re looking kinda green, man,” Frank said. 

Percy straightened up and collected himself. “Yeah fine, just got a headrush for a second. Those Senate meetings are torture,” he forced a smile. Hazel narrowed her eyes, but Frank seemed satisfied. The three of them started walking again towards the ship that was now hovering over a clearing in New Rome. 

A loud popping noise erupted from a spot on Frank’s left, and a large marble bust appeared on the ground next to Frank, spraying sparks and rubble. Frank left out a very dignified yelp. 

“Hello, Praetor. I like the toga, up to regulation. Well, I’ve just had the most infuriating interaction with the Greeks! So rude. I can’t understand how Jason stands them. He’s changed.” Terminus huffed his chest out. 

“Terminus, who was on the ship?” Percy asked, trying to hide his anxiety. 

“Oh wouldn’t you like to know, you Greek!” Terminus took a deep breath and collected himself. “Sorry about that, Praetor. I still cannot believe that you came from _them_. Well, there was a very violent faun. And I think a few others. Well, it’s no matter, they are coming now.” Percy was sure that in Terminus’s mind he was pointing. 

Frank, Hazel, and Percy all turned to look at the ship, as a rope ladder unfurled from the closest side. A girl with dark brown hair started down the ladder and was followed by a boy with short blonde hair, wearing a purple toga over an orange t-shirt, similar to the one Percy had woken up with at the Wolf House with Lupa. Jason. He certainly looked like a Roman. 

After him, came a smaller boy with dark curly hair. As he lowered himself onto the rope he turned and gave a wave to the crowd of Romans that had formed below the ship, and a huge grin spread across the boy’s face. Percy knew that smile pretty well, it was every teacher’s nightmare. 

The first girl and Jason had made it to the ground when Percy first saw the second girl starting down the ladder. Her blonde curls were pulled into a ponytail, and she wore a white t-shirt with jean shorts. She began to climb down the ladder, and Percy’s stomach seemed to rise into his throat. Something was different about her than the others, Percy was sure of it. The first three down the ladder stood awkwardly at the base, as Romans stood ten feet away, gawking at Jason, pointing and whispering about their long-lost Praetor. 

Suddenly Reyna stood at Percy’s side, and she turned to him. “Are you ready?” she asked. Percy closed his mouth, which he hadn’t even registered was open. He looked at her and found a mask of strength and power sitting on the surface. But Percy could also see a sadness that rested deep in her eyes, as they flickered unintentionally in between him and Jason, who was now holding hands with the girl with the choppy brown hair. 

Percy took a deep breath as he closed his eyes. He swallowed and tried to push the fear bubbling in his body down. “As ready as I’ll ever be.” 

Reyna grunted in response. 

The pair of Praetors began to walk forward through the crowd of Romans who parted for the two leaders, as Frank and Hazel followed behind them. The group of Greek demigods now stood in an awkward line in front of the crowd of Romans, as Percy and Reyna stepped to the front. This was the first time he had been able to get a good look at the group of four standing in front of him. The girl who had been holding hands with Jason now stood silently eyeing the group of Romans, paying special attention to Reyna. Her hair was a choppy dark brown but seemed to shine gold in the light, and had feathers braided through it. Her eyes wouldn’t stop shifting colors, making it almost hard to hold her gaze. She looked at Percy with a strange expression and seemed to assess him. 

Next to her stood Jason, who was tall and muscular, with a strong build. He had blue eyes, and a matching haircut with Frank, only Jason’s was blonde. He was giving small waves to familiar faces in the crowd. He gave Reyna an apologetic smile as she sternly took in the group. 

On Jason’s other side was the second boy, who stood still flashing a bright smile. He was a few inches shorter than Jason and was skinny and lithe. He had curly brown hair that covered part of his face, and his dark eyes were nervously moving around the scene, and he seemed to be covered in a layer of grime and machine oil. His hands were constantly moving, playing with pieces of shiny bronze, or reaching in and out of a tool belt that sat on his waist. 

And then there was the girl to his right. She stood tall, her brow furrowed as if she was trying to figure something out. Her storm grey eyes darted from person to person in the crowd, seemingly trying to assess their threat levels. She looked dangerous if nothing else. Percy had avoided looking at her as he was walking towards the group, but now as Reyna and he stood in front of the Romans, he couldn’t take his eyes off of her. Percy’s stomach seemed to be doing somersaults, his head throbbing, and the smell from earlier had come back, and he had to stop himself from turning around to look for the ocean.

A second later Reyna took a step forward and opened her arms in a gesture of kindness. “Welcome, esteemed guests. New Rome welcomes your party.” The words sounded nice enough but there was a sharp edge to her voice. As the words left her mouth, the girl’s eyes met Percy’s for the first time. He froze. Her grey eyes stared into his green ones, and a huge grin broke on her face. Reyna continued, “My name is Reyna, and I am Praetor of New Rome along with Percy Jac-” At that exact moment the mystery girl rushed forward, breaking from the line of four, and ran forward towards Percy. 

On instinct, he opened his arms to catch her as she launched her body onto his. She wrapped her arms around Percy’s neck and buried her head into his shoulder. He didn’t know what to do. He held her in his arms gingerly, not knowing what to do with the girl who was holding him like he was the most important thing in the world. 

Her hair smelled like clean laundry and lemon. If watching her had been uncomfortable, it was nothing compared to touching her. A searing pain erupted in Percy’s chest and spread to his head, making his vision cloud with black dots. Her presence was dizzying, the ground below him wasn’t solid. 

Percy steadied himself under her weight. He had no idea who this girl was, but she clearly knew him. A part of him wanted to lean into the embrace, and pull her closer into his chest. But he also felt like if he didn’t let go of her, something very bad would happen. It felt wrong, letting her hold him, like he wasn’t supposed to be there. But there was also something strange about their embrace. He knew where she would put her hands, and rest her head, and he had felt his instincts take over as soon as their two bodies had made contact. 

“It’s you?” he whispered tentatively into her hair. 

“Well duh, Seaweed Brain.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! This is my first fic ever!!! ahhh yeah, so, I am excited and nervous to publish, but let me know any thoughts comments or feelings along the way if you keep reading!


	2. Annabeth

**Annabeth**

Sweet relief. That’s what it felt like to hug Percy again, after all of the months apart. He smelled like an ocean breeze, just like she had remembered. Months of pain, fear, and resentment seemed to melt from her, making Annabeth feel weightless. Her eyes started to water and she felt tears pooling in her eyes. She held him tight to her, wrapping her arms around his neck, not wanting to let go. He was here, finally, and she could touch him again. 

After months of radio silence of any traces of her boyfriend, as suddenly as he had disappeared, she could see Percy in her dreams. She would yell out to him until her voice was hoarse, Percy always just too far to make out what she was saying. But now, here he was, in her arms. She could feel his warmth, smell his hair - she was whole again. 

Since Percy had been gone, Annabeth had not been the same. She was angrier, more likely to snap in annoyance or yell at younger campers. She had separated herself from virtually everyone else, except for maybe Sally. Sally was the only one who understood, who probably had it worse than her. But Annabeth didn’t carry the weight of Percy’s disappearance nearly as gracefully as Sally had. Sally had taken to comforting her, and she was the only person Annabeth would let see her cry. They had sat on the floor of their apartment, Annabeth listening to stories of Percy as a kid, carefree and happy. It usually ended in tears, at least from Annabeth, and usually Sally too. 

But all of the pain of the past few months seemed unimportant now that she was with him again. All she wanted was to be with him. And now that she had that, Annabeth was so sure that it would all be alright. 

She was vaguely aware of the crowd of Romans standing around her, no doubt staring at her reunion with their leader but at this moment in time, she really didn’t care. 

“It’s you?” Percy’s voice was quiet and strained. 

She laughed. “Well duh, seaweed brain,” she smiled at the sound of his voice in real life, and not just in dreams and memories. She pulled away from his chest to look at his face. But as soon as she locked eyes with Percy, her heart dropped. 

His eyes were staring into hers, a desperate searching look, as his lips trembled. Annabeth’s smile faltered. Suddenly a few things became abundantly clear. He wasn’t looking at her like she was looking at him. Annabeth’s eyes were full of tears of happiness, and a smile still on her lips. Percy’s brow was furred and his mouth slightly open like he was asking a question. And he wasn’t holding her as she had been. His arms had been wary and soft, not desperate and hungry like hers had been. Her hands had flown to the back of his head, running her fingers through Percy’s black hair, pressing her cheek to his to feel his skin on hers again, while she couldn't even feel his hands on her. Annabeth was hugging her best friend, having a desperate and passionate reunion, and Percy was meeting a stranger. 

‘ _ No, no, no, this can’t be happening. Jason remembered everything after a few weeks, why doesn’t he remember? _ ’ Annabeth’s thoughts raced as she pulled away from him, studying his expression, holding his elbows.

“You don’t remember me,” she said barely at a whisper, tears beginning to gather. It wasn’t a question. She already knew, and the weight of the realization was making her tremble. 

Percy looked into her eyes and dropped his arms to his side. He pressed his lips together in a pained expression and averted his eyes. He shook his head slightly. 

Annabeth stumbled away from him, her eyes and face burning. When she had thought about her reunion, of course, she had considered the possibility that he might be a different person, a more Roman, more Jason-like Percy, than the one who had disappeared in the night all those months ago. But imagining a Percy who did not know her had been too painful to even fathom. Yet here she was. Standing in a crowd of Romans, holding her boyfriend who didn’t even recognize her. 

She quickly let go of Percy’s arms and stumbled back in between the two groups. Piper reached out and grabbed Annabeth’s wrist and pulled her back into line with her, Leo, and Jason. Piper squeezed her hand and whispered, “I’m so sorry Annabeth.”

Reyna, the leader of the Romans cleared her throat as she glanced nervously around. “Anyways, Percy and I represent the citizens of New Rome, and we welcome you and your quest.” Annabeth had been so busy looking at Percy she had forgotten to pay any attention to the people around him. Standing on either side of him was a boy and a girl. The boy was asian, Chinese? He had the same haircut as Jason, short and military-style. He was stocky but seemed a tiny bit pudgy. The girl on Percy’s other side was shorter than Percy and the boy. She had dark skin, with wild brown curly hair. She seemed to be the youngest of the three, but she had angled her body in a protective way over Percy. She kept glancing at the boy, they were clearly close, the trio. Were these his new friends, who had been taking care of him this whole time? 

Reyna stood a few feet away from Percy and his friends, and she seemed every part a Roman leader. Her posture reminded Annabeth of Jason’s, both of them stood tall with their shoulders pulled back, feet planted firmly into the ground. But her expression was harsher than Jasons. Her jaw was set in a clench, her mouth pressed into a thin line. Her eyes were dark and darting between herself and the rest of the group. Something about her expression reminded Annabeth of herself, the seriousness of her face covering something broken and sad. Seeing Reyna’s expression grounded her a little bit, reminding her to adjust the mask she had to put on. She was a pseudo leader of their group and needed to remain strong, regardless of Percy. 

Jason stepped forward at that moment and called out, speaking to the crowd, “Hey everyone! It’s good to be back after so long. This is Piper McLean, Leo Valdez, and Annabeth Chase.” 

Reyna strode towards Jason, a pained smile across her face, and she extended her arm to shake his hand. “Welcome back Jason. We missed you.” Annabeth saw Piper narrow her eyes. “And welcome, to new friends,” Reyna let go of his hand and moved on to Annabeth, Piper, and Leo. When she shook Annabeth’s hand, Annabeth looked at the Praetor’s face expecting to find harsh eyes, but instead, she only found sympathy. Gods, that was insulting. 

“Well, it seems we have a lot to discuss!” Reyna pulled a few of the lower-ranking Romans and started giving orders, as the demigods stood at attention, like well-trained soldiers. A pasty tall blonde boy shoved his way through the crowd of Romans, shouting insults in Latin until he reached Reyna, whose eyes had settled on a look of annoyance. The boy started waving his arms, ranting and raving about protocol and security while Reyna feigned interest. The boy was strange-looking, to say the least. He was fairly tall but scrawny, wearing the traditional toga. But the strangest thing of all was the belt of stuffed animals that hung loosely over his hips and the long knife attached to it. 

‘ _ Romans, _ ’ thought Annabeth. Percy was standing next to Reyna in the center of the group with a much more amused expression on his face compared to his partner. The pair watched the boy who Reyna introduced as Octavian. Admittedly, Annabeth was not paying very close attention to the conversation, she was more interested in Percy. When the shipped docked over New Rome, she had waited to reunite with Percy in the name of professionalism in front of the Romans, but as soon as she looked into his sea-green eyes, it had been all over for her. She melted under his gaze, and no longer cared what the demigods thought of her. But now, his sight was painful as she could now clearly see the unrecognizing confusion on his face. So much of her just wanted to run up to him again and be with him, feel his arms around her, his lips on hers. But she also wanted to be out of his sight. To run away from the pain. 

Percy had been her best friend for so many years. When he had disappeared, it was like losing a whole part of her life. She didn’t know who to laugh with, who to tell about her nightmares, who to ask advice from. Annabeth had slowly withered away without him. For the past months, it had felt like she was only taking half breaths, never fully resting or catching her breath. And for those brief moments where she had held him, she felt her lungs fill with oxygen again, finally feeling at peace. And then it had been ripped from her, just out of reach. And now Annabeth felt ten times worse. She had felt relief for the first time in so long, and now, knowing what it felt like but not being able to have it was so much worse than it had been. 

She was ashamed that she ever thought it would be as simple as just finding Percy, and then after that everything could go back to normal. But of course, Hera could never make it that easy. Maybe this was a continuation of her feud. Make Annabeth think that he would remember, like Jason had, and that they would be a happy couple again. But no, of course not! It had always been complicated for Annabeth and Percy. She’d quietly pinned after him for years before ever making a move, and even after that it had been months until they were together. She smiled at the memory of their kiss under Mount St. Helens, and later in the dining pavilion at Camp. Things with Percy had never been easy, there had always been challenges, even from the first summer they met. But so quickly he had become  _ her _ person. More than anything, Annabeth wanted to sit with him on the beach at Camp, or in the strawberry fields, and listen to his corny jokes, and remind him about myths that he had gotten wrong or forgotten. The thought brought new hot pain to her chest, and she felt her eyes prick not for the first time today. 

“-Annabeth, earth to Annabeth!” Piper was pulling her arm. The group of Romans and Greeks had started walking further into New Rome. She shook herself out of her trance and started after the group next to Piper. Jason was ahead alongside Percy and Reyna, as Octavian strutted at the front, clearly trying to exude the presence a leader, but it was clear to Annabeth that the power at camp lay with Reyna and Percy. Leo was following the trio of Praetors and Percy’s two friends were just behind him. 

“You okay?” Piper stopped Annabeth in their stride. 

Annabeth looked at Piper, whose eyes had settled on a dark brown and green. Piper gripped Annabeth’s hand, and she felt her nerves settle. ‘ _ Ah, thank god for charmspeak, _ ’ Annabeth thought. 

“I’ll be okay,” she gave Piper a small smile and tried to push the upset into numbness. She wasn’t just here for Percy. If their mission was to be successful they needed the Roman’s support. Her situation with Percy was not the most important thing. The mission, defeating the Giants and Gaia, that is what needed her attention most. And that meant putting her issues with Percy aside for the moment. She knew that she was probably the diplomat of the group, and she needed to be present at the feast they were heading for in the forum. “Time to make some friends.” 


	3. Percy

**Percy**

The feast was probably up there with one of the most uncomfortable experiences of Percy’s life, if he could remember any of it. Tables and couches had been carted into the Forum so they could eat within the city lines. Reyna, Octavian, Dakota, and Gwen joined Percy, Hazel, Frank, and the group from the ship at the head table. Reyna sat in between Percy and Jason, seemingly embracing both Praetors, which of course meant Octavian was shooting daggers the whole meal. Percy had pulled Frank and Hazel down next to him, and Leo, the one with the worst case of ADHD Percy was sure he had ever seen, memories or no memories, had sat next to Hazel - who for whatever reason looked like she was about to fall into Frank’s lap in an effort to stay away from Leo. Piper was eyeing Reyna, Hazel was trying to stay as far away from Leo as possible, and Percy and Annabeth were pretending the other did not exist. Annabeth (he knew her name now) was sitting next to Piper, her eyes never leaving either her food or whoever was talking, except of course for Percy, who was having a hard time  _ not  _ studying her features. 

Once food and drinks were all splayed out on the table, Reyna tapped her knife to her glass, and stood up and turned slightly to speak to the whole group, “To new and old friends!”

“Here here!” The sound of clinking glasses and conversation broke out as Reyna sat back down at the table. 

The rest of the Romans aside from Reyna and Percy introduced themselves, and the group started exchanging stories of the times at both camps since Jason and Percy had been swapped. It was revealed that Jason had been sent to ‘Camp Half-Blood’ on Long Island, and that had been where Percy had been kidnapped. Jason went on to describe meeting Piper, Leo, a satyr named Coach Hedge (who Percy had been promised an introduction to), and Annabeth. Piper, Leo, and Jason had gone on a quest to free Hera who had been trapped at Wolf House months before Percy had woken up there. Jason also mentioned that he had started to gain back his memory just weeks and days after waking up on the bus in Nevada. Reyna seemed to let a very small smile reach her face when he mentioned her name coming up in his memories.

After he finished his story with Piper and Leo adding details here and there, the whole group turned to look at Percy. Of course, at that exact moment, Percy had decided to take a huge bite out of his cheeseburger. 

“Mmhg- uhh-” 

Reyna had a look of disgust and amusement on her face. Percy swallowed the bite and cleared his throat. 

“Well, it started when I woke up at the Wolf House.” From there he described his training with Lupa, being chased by the Gorgons (Annabeth flinched at that), finding Hera “-sorry, Juno,” and meeting Frank and Hazel at the entrance to camp. Octavian gave a dramatic retelling of their first meeting, and Octavian allowing Percy to join the legion. Then Hazel Frank and Percy all took turns telling the group about their trip up the West Coast, and to Alaska and fighting the giants, freeing the death god, and finally the battle back at Camp Jupiter. 

Jason whistled in appreciation, “Wow, no wonder they made you Praetor.” 

“Uhh thanks bro, but they missed you.” Jason’s smile grew a little at this comment. 

“Well, in any case, I believe it is time to talk about the prophecy,” Reyna said as she pushed her plate of untouched food away from her. “Octavian, will you do us the honor?” 

“Of course Praetor,” he sneered the last word, but Reyna did not react. “ _ Seven half-bloods will answer the call. To storm or fire the world must fall _ -”

“ _ An oath to keep with a final breath. And foes bear arms to the Doors of Death _ ,” Annabeth finished. It was the first time she had spoken the whole meal. Her face had turned a shade of pink as she realized that everyone's eyes were on her, especially Percy’s whose mouth was hanging open, his cheeseburger frozen inches from his face. “Sorry for interrupting, but I think some of the prophecy is becoming clear. ‘Foes’ probably refers to both Romans and Greeks working together to find and close the doors.” 

Hazel shifted next to Frank and Leo. “My brother, Nico, went searching for the doors, but he’s been missing for some time.”

Annabeth dropped her fork across the table. “You know Nico di Angelo?”

Hazel squirmed on the sofa, uncomfortable with the attention being on her. “Yes, why? Do you?” 

Annabeth’s mouth hung open in disbelief. “Do I know him? I’ve known Nico since I was fourteen! Percy and I-” she stopped herself midsentence as Percy looked away. ‘ _ I knew Nico from before? _ ’ he thought. Annabeth cleared her throat. “He’s from our camp.” 

Reyna laughed a little, “Well, that clears some things up. We always wondered where he came from.” 

“Well, in any case, we’ll look for him,” Percy rushed to fill any awkwardness. “Thanatos told us we’d find both answers to the Doors of Death and Nico in Rome. So if we all agree, that’s where we should head.” Percy said, looking around the group of demigods. No one looked particularly thrilled at the proposition. 

“The quest you are suggesting is the most dangerous one I’ve ever heard in recent times. The Mediterranean is a dangerous place that’s been off-limits for Romans for centuries. People simply do not return,” Reyna said shaking her head. 

“Hey, we’ve gotten pretty good at impossible missions, though,” Percy smirked and put his arm around Frank. Reyna sighed and threw up her hand in a sign of defeat. 

“Well it says seven demigods, and it should be a mix of Greeks and Romans. We have me, Piper, Leo, and Jason - that’s four,” Annabeth said looking around the table. 

“And me, Hazel and Frank. There, we have our seven!” Percy said. 

“And of course we have a kick-butt warship and a Satyr babysitter.” Leo grinned. 

Octavian looked like he wanted to protest, but Percy knew that the augur would not volunteer himself for the quest. 

“Great, it seems like we have it all under con-” Jason was interrupted by the sight of a cyclops, hellhound, and harpy spriting over to their table. Percy braced for impact.

Mrs. O’Leary bounded over as Tyson and Ella slid off her back. The monster ran up to Percy and started violently licking the side of his head, pushing his hair straight up. “Woah, down girl!” Clearly, in his past life, he had been close with the dog, but now Percy felt terror when she ran up to him, even though he knew she was basically a lapdog. But still, who in the Hades names their hellhound Mrs. O’Leary? And who even has a hellhound as a pet? Apparently Percy.

Tyson held Ella’s hand as they approached the table, but when he saw Annabeth, he broke out into a huge smile. “Anniebeth!” He ran over to her and she stood to meet the cyclops. 

“Hey, big guy!” She stood as he basically tackled her in a bear hug. 

So this had been Percy’s family? A cyclops brother, a dangerous blond, and a hellhound. ‘ _ Gods that’s strange. _ ’ Percy thought. Mrs. O’Leary got bored with Percy’s rat nest of hair, she moved on to Annabeth who took the hellhound's giant face in her hands. He knew that in almost any context the sight should have at  _ least  _ weirded him out, and probably scared the pants off him, but he couldn’t help but smile as Annabeth lovingly petted the hellhound and Tyson laughed. And there it was again, those damn strawberries. Some wires in his brain had definitely been crossed. 

“Ella is scared.” Tyson directed the comment to the whole table. 

The harpy was pacing behind Percy, Hazel, and Frank, and Hazel stood up to go comfort her. “No, no more boats. Not for harpies,” Ella said, her voice tight.

“Hey chicken lady, I can assure you -- the Argo II is a world-class vessel, and is very well made,” Leo said. 

“She’s not a chicken,” Hazel said quietly. She turned to Ella, “Don’t worry, you don’t have to go on any ships.” 

Ella glanced around the group at the table. “Oh no, oh no.” She pointed at Annabeth. “ _ Wisdom’s daughter walks alone  _ -” 

“-Hey now, Ella!” Frank jumped off of the sofa. “Let’s get you some food!” 

“- _ The Mark of Athena burns through Rome. Twins snuff out the angel’s breath, Who holds the key to endless death. Giants’ bane stands gold and pale, Won through pain from a woven jail _ .”

No one spoke. Percy tore his eyes off of Ella to look at the faces around the table and everyone’s mouths were open, except for Annabeth, whose face had gone white, and her jaw clenched. ‘ _ Gods this is bad _ ,” Percy thought. Octavian was looking at the harpy with new interest, a wild hunger in his eyes. 

“Okay, Tyson, why don't you take Ella out into the city and show her around!” Percy forced a casual smile onto his face. 

“Wait just a minute! What she just said, was that-” Octavian was slowly standing. Reyna’s face remained carefully indifferent. 

“Ella reads a lot!” Frank blurted very astutely. 

“Mm yes! Books. Lots of books. Probably a quote!” Hazel again came in clutch with subtlety. 

“Ella likes books,” Ella nodded her head. 

Octavian’s eyes were still narrowed, but he had sat back down. Dakota and Gwen seemed to think the whole thing was very strange, but not a cause for concern. But Reyna’s face was as hard to read as ever for Percy. Her eyes were dark, her poker face perfect. 

Tyson looked around nervously. “We should go. Mrs. O’Leary can shadow travel us somewhere safe.”

“That’s a great idea, big guy,” Annabeth smiled at him. The Romans of the group all turned to face Reyna. 

Percy took a deep breath. “Fine, yes go,” she said. The Praetor made eye contact with him that seemed to say, ‘ _ You better not make me regret this _ .’

A moment later with a few quick goodbyes the hellhound, the cyclops, and the harpy were gone. 

“I am still unhappy with this situation,” Octavian huffed. “With a warship hovering over the city no less!”

Leo’s grin emerged. “Hey man! I’d love to show you around my masterpiece.” He dropped the pinwheel of foil he had been fidgeting with.

“Yes, that’s a great idea. Octavian you go with Leo aboard the Argo II,” Reyna said, “And we can catch up.” She motioned to Jason, who looked up in surprise. 

“Uh sure. Pipes, you’ll come?” He looked at Piper. Reyna’s expression shifted into something less kind.

“Yeah, I’d love to!” Reyna’s eyes tightened at the girl’s words. 

“Wonderful. And Percy, I believe you and Annabeth have some catching up to do,” Reyna said, new cruelty in her eyes. Percy turned to look at the Praetor. ‘ _ Please god no Reyna, don’t leave me alone with her, what do I even say? _ ’ Percy tried to pour all of this into a look, but if Reyna got the message she did not reveal it. 

Percy looked to Annabeth who seemed to have the same look on her face but directed at Piper. Percy reluctantly stood up and slowly walked over to where Annabeth was standing. 

“Hey.” 

She looked up and back down at her shoes. “Hi.” 

“Uh, do you want to go somewhere less loud?” he said gesturing to the still bustling Forum, where people were still loudly talking and eating. 

“Sure.” 

The pair started walking away from the Forum down one of the streets in New Rome. Percy didn’t know what to say to her. Of course, he was bursting with questions, but he saw hurt in her eyes, and her expression was more guarded than even Reyna’s.

They walked for several blocks in silence, passing townhouses, shops, and cafes. Annabeth’s eyes were wandering all over the street, seemingly in awe. Percy wondered what could have been so different about Camp Half-Blood to make her so interested in New Rome. 

Finally, Percy broke the silence. “So-”

“I - oh sorry.” 

“No, it’s fine you go first.”

She took a deep breath and turned to face him. “I’m sorry for what happened earlier, I should have waited to talk to you until after the introductions. It’s just that I expected that you would have your memories back like Jason, but still, I’m sorry.” 

“No, no you’re fine. I’m sorry that I don’t have the memories back. It was hard seeing Tyson realize that I didn’t remember him, and I kinda hoped that none of your group would know me, so I wouldn’t have to do that again,” he said, slowly turning around to make their way back to the Forum. 

“Yeah, I’m sure it was hard for him. Disappointing Tyson... I don’t know. Maybe it’s because he’s so innocent, but it hurts more than you’d expect.” 

Percy huffed. “You can say that again. Maybe it’s the one big brown eye,” he shook his head. Annabeth let out a small laugh. 

“Yeah, well, you two were really close before, you know,” she gestured into the air vaguely, her smile turning more melancholic. 

Percy paused. The question he wanted to ask seemed both so glaringly obvious and unclear to him. “And what about us. Were we close?” 

She took a deep breath and pursed her lips. “Yeah… we were really close. We’ve known each other since we were twelve.” 

Percy raised his eyebrows and whistled. “Wow. That long, huh?” 

Annabeth shrugged and smiled. “Seems like longer, the amount of trouble you got us into.” 

“Now that I can believe.” 

Again, a small laugh, but her eyes were still sad. She was walking next to Percy but seemed to be purposefully keeping her distance over an arms reach away from him. “So, you don’t remember anything?” 

“It’s complicated,” Percy said, racking his brain trying to find the right words to describe it. “It’s weird. When I woke up with Lupa, it wasn’t like I was a blank slate. I knew my name, and I remembered how to fight. I already knew how to work my powers, and what my abilities were. And I wasn’t surprised with all the stuff about the gods, but it was kinda programmed into my head to say their Greek names. Then at camp, I had a small run-in with Ares and Mars, and I felt so much anger, to the point I was sure that we had a history.” 

“Yeah, you and Ares haven’t always gotten along,” Annabeth said.

“He mentioned that. Those were the big things, I guess. But there’s also been some weird stuff. Pretty much all of my dreams since I woke up have been about people I didn’t remember, but I forget them as soon as I wake up. And then sometimes I’ll have super intense déjà vu, just for no reason.” Percy paused. He _ could  _ tell Annabeth about the weird strawberry and ocean smell, or the weird feelings he had when she had hugged him, but it seemed almost too personal of a detail to share with her. Percy had been staring at his feet as he walked and talked but he looked up and found Annabeth staring at him intently. Her eyes were a dark grey, but they were glassy with tears. She quickly looked away. 

A sinking feeling fell in Percy’s stomach. He  _ almost _ reached out to hold her, to put his arm around her, anything to make her stop looking at him like that. Annabeth didn’t just look sad. Her shoulders were slumped, her jaw set to stop it from trembling, but the rest of her face was relaxed. It was the look of someone defeated. Percy looked away. 

“I’m really sorry, you know. I can tell that we must have been important to each other and I really wish I did remember.” 

Percy looked back up at her in time to see her wipe a single tear from her cheek, but Annabeth seemed determined to not let Percy see her cry. “It’s not your fault Percy,” she let out a shaky breath. “I should go check on Leo and Octavian, make sure Leo hasn’t done anything stupid.” They had made it back to the Forum, and the Argo II’s ladder was hanging in the wind under the ship. 

“Okay, yeah. I’ll see you back here for the Senate meeting?” he asked as she started to walk back to the ship. 

She turned and smiled. “Sure.” 

And with that she was climbing back up the ladder of the Argo II, disappearing into the ship. As soon as Percy lost sight of her, he could feel that something was wrong. For the third time today, pain shot from his chest into his head, but it was worse this time around. His vision tunneled, and he doubled over in pain. He could hear Frank yelling, but the sound seemed like Percy was hearing it through glass. Percy blinked his eyes trying to make out the shapes above him, and the last thing he saw was Hazel standing over him, as he lay on the ground next to the fountain. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will be up by Friday the 30th!


	4. Percy

**Percy**

Saltwater. That was the first thing Percy noticed. The smell filled every corner or his consciousness, and he was sure that this was the smell that had been following him all afternoon. He could feel it in the air, flowing through the wind that seemed to be buzzing around him. He was standing on a long and wide beach, bare feet in the sand. Tall but lazy waves battled the shore, as seagulls flew overhead. As he looked around, it became clear that this wasn’t the same ocean he had sailed with Frank and Hazel. The sea was darker, more violent, and the whole scene was washed in grey. This was an intimidating ocean, a colder one. The Atlantic. Percy turned his face up to the sun and drank in the warmth. The air itself had a chill, but Percy let his feet sink into the sand, let himself absorb it all, the sun, the salt. 

Even though he knew that the illusion wasn’t real, he could still feel the power of the ocean. He closed his eyes and focused on the beating of the waves, like a heartbeat, gently calling him to the water. 

Percy opened his eyes and found a woman in the distance walking towards him. She had long brown hair and was wearing jeans that had been rolled up her calves, and a grey sweatshirt. As she approached Percy, he began to feel unstable, his headache coming back, and he put out his arms to catch his balance. When she was just a few feet away she smiled, and Percy seemed to melt. She was taller than him, but it was if Percy had shrunk. Her eyes were a warm brown, and she had crinkle lines around her eyes and mouth showing years of smiling and laughter. 

She grabbed his hand and helped steady him. “Percy honey?” she looked into his eyes with concern and brushed his hair back with a warm hand. 

Percy’s mouth hung open, not knowing what to do. Her eyes were so bright, and her smile reminded him of his. He felt on the verge of tears, but he didn’t know why. “Mom?” 

She smiled at him again. “Let’s get you some food.” She tucked him into her side and the pair started walking down the beach.

BOOM. 

That was the sound that greeted Percy as he regained consciousness. The ground under him shook, as both Frank and Hazel tried to hoist him off of the floor. 

“What in the-” a flaming spear covered in greek fire launched from the warship and went straight through the roof of the Senate, making the earth shake. The whole building erupted in flames.

“Good, you’re awake. The Greeks are attacking,” Frank glanced around the area, assessing the situation. The Forum was in chaos. Romans were running around, centurions giving orders. Percy saw several people pick up forks and knives from the table to use as weapons.

Percy’s vision started tunneling again. Frank's words seemed impossible. “She wouldn’t,” Percy muttered looking up at the ship, looking for any sign of Annabeth. He couldn’t see her. 

Octavian was scrambling down the ladder, screaming in Latin and English something about ‘a declaration of war’. Percy stood up tall, adjusting, and pushing the mental confusion of his - whatever it was - out of mind. “We need to find Reyna.” 

Hazel pointed to towards the boundary. “She’s giving orders right now. Should we go to her?” Jason and Piper ran towards them as the Argo II launched another volley. 

“What is going on? Why are you attacking?” Percy demanded as the pair approached them, as a mob of Romans followed. 

“Percy, I swear this wasn’t us. Leo is the one firing, he’s not in control of himself. Look.” Piper demanded. 

Percy immediately turned his head to the ship and looked at the deck where Leo was sitting at the artillery, preparing another attack. His movements were methodical, not at all like what Percy had seen of Leo at dinner. 

“We need to get up there to stop him,” Piper again looked into Percy’s eyes, and for whatever reason Percy found himself agreeing with her. ‘ _ Yes, yes of course. Get Piper and Jason onto the ship to stop Leo _ ,’ he thought.

Percy nodded. “You two go, we will hold back the Romans,” he gestured to the crowd that had gathered that were yelling and trying to attack Piper and Jason. Percy raised a wave of water from the fountain and doused the crowd, whom Octavian was egging on by screaming “Treachery! Deceit! Kill the Greeks!” 

At the same time, a few of the remaining catapults left over from the battle were being positioned outside of the Pomeranian line, and Percy could see the ammunition being loaded up next to it. ‘ _ Schist.’ _

“You need to go now, they’ll launch a counter-attack soon,” Hazel said pointing to the weapons. Jason took a somber look at the crowd and closed his eyes. The next thing Percy knew, he and Piper were shooting through the air over the crowd and landing on the deck of the Argo II. 

“Percy!” Reyna pushed through the crowd, anger seething in her eyes. “We need to lead the counter attack. Now.” Percy looked at her, and back at the ship, where he could see Jason dragging Leo’s unconscious body. 

“No, Reyna, it wasn’t them. The Leo kid was possessed or something. This wasn’t their plan. And Jason and Piper just stopped him, the ship will stop.” Percy pleaded desperately, pointing to the ship. 

“Percy it doesn’t matter. They’ve attacked- we can’t let that go unanswered. My hands are tied. It’s time for you to pick your side.” She said, turning to give orders to some centurions, who ran back to the catapults which were being loaded. 

Panic rose from his stomach. ‘ _ Oh gods, _ ’ he thought. This had been exactly what he had wanted to avoid. On one hand, the Romans had welcomed him with (mostly) open arms, even raising him to Praetor. But he knew that he needed to go on this quest if he ever wanted to know more about his past and to defeat Queen dirt face. “Will you come?” Percy turned to look at Frank and Hazel. 

Hazel again looked at the ship and the crowd, and then Frank. The pair seemed to silently have the same conversation Percy had with himself. Frank looked back at Percy. “We’ll follow your lead.” 

‘ _ Thank the gods _ ,’ Percy thought. He looked up at the ship to see Piper wildly waving down to Percy, Frank, and Hazel. Jason yelled from somewhere inside the ship, “How do you even work this thing?!” 

“Okay. We’re doing this, I guess. Frank, you take Hazel up, I’ll make a run for it.” Percy said, gathering his strength for another wave. He turned to his fellow Praetor. “Reyna - I’m sorry.” 

The anger on her face faded slightly. “They’ll chase you.  _ We’ll _ chase you.”

“I know.”

“Be careful.” 

Percy grinned. “Hey, aren’t I always?” At this, he raised his arms and the remaining water in the fountain, and released the tsunami over the crowd, clearing a path for him. Out of the corner of his eye,, he saw Frank transform into an eagle, and grab Hazel up and start soaring to the ship. Percy ran until he reached the ladder, and started frantically climbing just as the Romans fired their first volley of catapults, making the ship tilt and groan. Piper and a Satyr started pulling the ladder up until Percy rolled on to the deck.

Looking around, the boat was in chaos. Piper was hauling Percy to his feet, as the Satyr yelled curses over the side of the boat, waving his baseball bat. Frank and Hazel were trying to put out a fire on the bow, and Annabeth and Leo were both unconscious against one of the masts. 

Percy’s heart stopped when he saw her. She was bleeding from a wound on her forehead, probably where she had been knocked unconscious. Percy knew that he needed to find who did this, who hurt her, and, and - well he wasn’t totally sure what he would do when he found them, but he was sure it wouldn’t be pretty. He felt adrenaline fill his veins, ready to fight someone, anyone, or anything.

Percy was finally jolted out of his trance by Jason yelling from the control center, “Hold on! I don’t know how to work this thing!” which didn’t exactly calm Percy, but the ship lurched up into the sky and then raced forward, as the Argo II left Camp Jupiter in the distance. 


	5. Annabeth

**Annabeth**

Annabeth woke up in the sickbay, her head throbbing. The lights of the room were making her vision blur. Annabeth tried to sit up. Piper rushed over, “Woah there, you aren’t going anywhere, anytime soon,” she gently lowered her back onto the bed. 

“Ugh ow,” Annabeth said as she raised her hand to the large bump that had formed on her hairline. “Piper- Leo! You have to-” 

“We know about Leo, don’t worry. Once he started firing on the Romans, Jason and I flew up and found you knocked out on the deck. Coach Hedge finally knocked Leo over the head with his baseball bat and we got away. The Romans got a few shots on us but the ship is mostly working,” Piper stood up from Annabeth’s bed and walked over to a cabinet and grabbed a square of ambrosia. “Here. Eat up.”

Annabeth grabbed the square of godly food, and took a bite. It tasted like s’mores from the campfire at camp. “Thanks. But what about -” 

“Stop worrying! You’re going to make your concussion worse. Percy, Hazel and Frank came with us. We’re headed east now, and Leo said something about repairs, but we’re away from Camp Jupiter.” 

Annabeth breathed a sigh of relief. “Did you find out what was wrong with Leo? When I came onto the ship, he talked to me, but it wasn’t his voice. Or his movements or anything.”

Piper shook her head. “Jason and Percy are talking to him now, he woke up twenty minutes ago.”

Annabeth shivered. This was the last thing they needed, a haunted ship to take them to the land where demigods never came back from. Not Greeks, not Romans, and especially not the children of Athena following the secret Annabeth was carrying in her pocket. She pushed the thought out of her mind; there were bigger things to deal with. 

“I should go check on them,” before Piper could argue, Annabeth quickly added, “I swear I’m feeling better, Pipes.” 

Piper raised an eyebrow but shrugged her shoulders, recognizing that if Annabeth wanted to get up - she would. The pair walked slowly to the mess hall, as Annabeth’s feet still felt unsteady, and the rolling of the (slightly)broken ship was not helping. The girls walked into the room to find Percy angrily standing over Leo, who was holding a melted bag of ice to his forehead, and Jason whose face was contorted in thought. Hazel (looking a little green) and Frank were sitting a few feet away from the interrogation, seemingly watching Percy go off at the son of Hephaestus. 

“You expect me to believe this? You attack not only New Rome but also a member of your own crew, Annabeth?!” Percy angrily turned to Jason, not seeing Piper and Annabeth standing in the entryway. “I don’t trust this guy, he should be restrained.” 

Jason caught sight of Piper and quickly dropped his shoulders in relief, “Oh thank gods. Can you tell him that Leo is not an agent of Gaia?”

Percy turned to face the girls, and he nearly tripped over himself. He caught Annabeth’s eye and turned a shade of pink. He blinked. “Oh - hi. You’re awake. You were unconscious. And bleeding.” 

Annabeth felt herself turning red as Percy’s eyes didn’t leave her face. The room went oddly quiet. Annabeth broke their awkward eye contact and cleared her throat. “It wasn’t Leo who was attacking anyone. When I got onto the ship, before he attacked me, a voice spoke and there was no way that was Leo,” Annabeth said, taking a seat at the table, far from Percy. 

“Well then what was it, cause  _ something _ attacked,” Frank walked towards the table and sat as far away from Leo as humanly possible. 

Everyone’s eyes once again turned to Annabeth. “Probably a spirit working for Gaia or the giants. Maybe a shade, or just a monster we haven’t seen before. I can do some research in a bit, but for now, do we need to stop for repairs?” 

Leo’s eyes brightened as the tension in the room seemed to die down. “Well, according to Festus -” 

“-A robot dragon,” Frank grumbled. 

“- the ship is compromised in a few places, it should be a quick repair, but we need to stop for a few supplies. Namely some celestial bronze, tar, and lime.”

“Where do we get that?” Piper asked, sliding into a seat in between Annabeth and Jason. 

“I can get Festus to do a scan. We should only try to make only one stop; multiple landings would not be good with the state of the ship,” Leo looked expectantly at Annabeth. 

Annabeth and Leo were not the closest pair on the ship, but she was also the only one who had any amount of patience for hearing about the obscure things Leo was always inventing. She was also the only one who really had any idea of how to fly the ship, even though most of it was a mystery to her. Leo could be a handful, but after the months of knowing him, she knew he always meant well. Annabeth took a deep breath and nodded. Leo practically bounded out of the room. “Can someone go with him, and make sure he doesn’t become possessed again?” 

Hazel looked up and quickly volunteered, and followed him out of the room. She watched Frank’s expression turn sour. 

“Hey,” Annabeth turned to Frank and Percy. “Thank you for coming with us. You didn’t have to do that especially after we attacked your city.” 

Percy shifted uncomfortably on his feet and went pink again. Frank just smiled sheepishly, and said, “We’re happy to be here. And Hazel and I told Percy we’d go where he goes.” Annabeth smiled. She didn’t know Frank or Hazel (or really Percy for that matter) but she could tell that they were good people. They seemed loyal and were clearly powerful demigods. 

Leo and Hazel walked back into the mess hall and Leo raised his hands in triumph. “We’re going to Utah, baby!” 

The landing on the Salt Lake was anything but ideal for Annabeth’s concussion, and the group unanimously agreed that she should stay and rest. Hazel and Leo had all gone to get the lime, and celestial bronze, which left Percy, Piper, Frank and Jason to get the tar. Percy seemed anxious to not be left alone with Annabeth, so he volunteered with Frank, and Piper seemed like she wanted to question Percy herself. Coach Hedge had taken watch for the last few shifts and was nodding off, so he went below to soundly sleep to some old Chuck Norris DVDs. So that left Jason on babysitting duty, which Annabeth claimed she didn’t need, but was secretly thankful to not have to defend the ship herself. 

After tossing and turning in her cabin for twenty minutes, trying to nap as Piper had ordered, Annabeth wandered onto the deck of the ship to find Jason, regal as ever, on watch, leaning on the railing looking out to the lake. 

Annabeth’s relationship with Jason had always been  _ interesting.  _ When he had shown up at the Grand Canyon, Annabeth knew instantly that he was connected to Percy’s disappearance. And even if every rational and logical cell in her body knew that he was not responsible for Annabeth losing her boyfriend, she had always secretly resented him. 

Percy and Jason were similar in a lot of ways. They were both children of the Big Three, making them stick out like a sore thumb in a crowd of demigods. And both of them had used this to become great leaders. Percy had left a void of power when he left Camp Half-Blood. He and Annabeth had sort of become the leaders of camp over the years, even if they weren’t the oldest and most senior campers. And when Jason arrived, he naturally filled that role. People listened when he talked, he was almost always on the winning team for capture the flag, and had led a quest to save the queen of the gods, just weeks after arriving. She had always worried that he was replacing Percy, that he was a permanent solution, that she didn’t want to solve her problem. 

Jason was also different from Percy in ways that only made Annabeth miss him more. Jason was a Roman, through and through. His posture was impeccable, where Percy slouched, Jason stood like a statue. He was serious. Percy seemed like he always had a grin on his face, and was cracking some stupid joke, that would only make Annabeth laugh at how bad it was. Jason was more put together, sharper around the edges. 

Watching Piper and Jason grow closer and closer had only reminded Annabeth of what was missing. Watching them sit at the campfire, hold hands on the beach, or spar in the arena, all things that had been rituals for Percy and Annabeth, and now she had been forced to watch them happen to someone else. Growing closer with Piper, she of course had been happy for her friend, but it had been a painful reminder for the past few months. Piper, being the people-reader she was, had noticed, and tried to tiptoe around Annabeth but it didn’t matter. She wouldn’t be okay until she had Percy back. And now that she did, but he didn’t remember, Annabeth’s sour and irrational feelings for Jason had bubbled back to the surface. Why had Jason’s memories returned so quickly, and Percy’s hadn’t? Annabeth was starting to worry that maybe Percy wouldn’t ever remember her, or anything from before. 

“Hey,” Annabeth said, walking over to stand next to Jason. He was wearing a purple Camp Jupiter shirt and a sad expression on his face. His SPQR tattoo seemed especially prominent today if that was even possible. 

He looked up confused for a second before nodding his head, “Hey. You feeling okay?” 

“Yeah, I’ll be alright. It looked like you were thinking about something.”

He let out a small laugh. “Yeah, I was. It’s just that things went so badly in New Rome.” 

Annabeth hummed in agreement. 

“I was so excited to see everyone again. This was my family for years! And it was like seeing strangers. Reyna was acting weird from the start, and then when Leo started firing on the city, no one hesitated in accusing me of treason!”

Annabeth paused. “People are quick to forget loyalty and friendship in the past when the easy answer is betrayal. I’m sure they’ll come around.”

“I hope so. Reyna will listen to reason, and probably Dakota and Gwen - the fifth cohort in general. But the rest of them? Octavian will be on the hunt for blood, and he can be pretty convincing.” 

“Well, we have to hope that once this is all over we can explain everything. And for what it’s worth, the Reyna thing might have more to do with Piper than anything else…” 

Jason grimaced. “You think so?” 

Annabeth raised an eyebrow at him. Were boys this clueless? 

He shook his head and let it slump between his shoulders. “Yeah, you’re right I should have anticipated that.” He sighed. Annabeth realised how weird today must have been for him. “Reyna told Percy that the legion will chase us.” 

This was news. “How far? To Rome?”

“No, no. They’re really serious about the Mediterranean being off-limits. But other than that? I guess until we get over the Atlantic.”

Annabeth’s mind started working. If they were going to be chased by angry Romans, she didn’t want to spend too much time here. They still weren’t far from Camp Jupiter and she didn’t count on the Romans being slow. 

“How are you feeling about - well, about Percy?” He asked turning to look at her, his eyes full of concern. Gods, she hated that. Why did he have to look so genuine? 

She sighed. Jason was the only one in the group who knew what it meant to have his memories tampered with. “It’s kind of awful, if I’m being honest.”

He laughed, “Okay, wow. I was expecting a punch with the question I asked.”

She allowed a small smile. Annabeth looked onto the water, which brought back memories of the lake at camp. “I dunno, I was just expecting a happy reunion. It was naive of me to think it would be that easy.” 

“Well to your credit, logic would say that he should have remembered by now.” 

“Yeah but I shouldn’t have got my hopes up. You’d think I would have learned that lesson by now.” 

Jason nodded his head in agreement. That was the thing about being a demigod. Disappointment and loss were in the job description. It was just that none of them had signed up for it. Things had been so hard for Annabeth and Percy before the Titan war ended. And then finally things seemed to fall into place. Sure, Rachel had given the next Great Prophecy, but Annabeth had allowed herself to think that maybe this one was meant for the next generation. That, of course, hadn’t happened. More than anything in the whole world, Annabeth wanted to rest. She wanted to settle down in a secluded cabin with Percy, and no monsters, and sit and read and sleep. All this coming from a 17-year-old. 

“You know, I never told Piper or Leo this, but getting your memory back is  _ hard _ ,” he said, his face contorting on the last word. Jason turned and faced her. “It was like when you wake up from a dream and keep talking about the things in the dream even though you’re awake, you can’t tell where you are. You basically have to relive all of your memories. And for me, and I’m sure Percy, they’re not all happy and painless ones.” 

“Did they come in your dreams?” 

“Mmhm. Sometimes. Others, it was like really intense daydreaming, I even passed out a few times. And the deja vu! Gods, that was awful. It was like something was on the tip of my tongue all the time. And as much as Piper and Leo tried to understand, they couldn’t. My confusion was blinding, and as much as I love them, I started pulling away. For me, it was only bad for a few days, but I didn’t want to talk to anyone. It just made me more disoriented. And seeing Reyna, or anything from Camp Jupiter would have only made it worse.” 

“So you’re saying I should keep my distance from Percy, in case he remembers?” she asked.

Jason pursed his lips, carefully choosing his next words. “I’m just saying that if and when he starts to remember, he might seem  _ distant _ .” 

Annabeth let out a cruel short laugh. “I can’t imagine we could get more distant.”

Jason shook his head. “I’m so sorry Annabeth. It’s not fair.” 

“It’s not your fault,” she said, patting his arm. “Besides Hera, there’s no one else to blame.” The two demigods stood shoulder to shoulder in the sun, looking out onto the lake. Maybe Annabeth was warming up to Jason. He was a good guy to talk to. 

In the distance, a spray of water erupted from the lake, and started making a line towards the Argo II. “I still can’t believe that horse,” Jason said, his eyes wide, as Arion, Hazel and Leo appeared on the deck, touting a bucket of what looked like sand, and Leo carrying a sheet of hammered steel. 

“Umm, what is going on there?” Annabeth motioned to the words that were scrawled across Leo’s arms and chest. 

“What? All da ladiez love Leo!” He smirked. “Are the others back yet?” 

Right on cue, a large eagle dropped Percy and Piper onto the deck, Percy holding a large bucket of steaming tar, his shirt covered in the stuff. Frank transformed back into himself, and hunched over, catching his breath. “Ah amazing! Now you all get to be my helpers to fix the ship!” Leo grinned. Piper rolled her eyes. 

The Argo II suddenly groaned. “What is that?” Jason asked.

Hazel grimaced. “We may have made the nymphs who live in the lake a  _ little _ angry.”

“How angry?” Percy asked, handing the bucket of tar to Jason, who headed into the ship with Leo. The boat angrily tilted, being almost pushed by the water. 

“Okay that answers my question,” Percy grumbled. “I’ll work on keeping them at bay; go help Leo with the repairs.” Annabeth nodded and headed into the ship. Leo was in the engine room, yelling directions to Jason, her and Frank. After what felt like an eternity, Leo ran to the control room, and by some miracle, the Argo II lifted into the air. 

Things died down from there. Leo emerged from the control room, having set Festus on a course east. The seven demigods all gathered down in the ship in the mess hall for an early dinner. It was the first time all of them had been in a room alone together. Coach Hedge had insisted on taking watch after what he called ‘a super-super power nap’. Annabeth sat at the head of the table, and the rest of the group seemed to fall in around her. She could practically feel the power vibrating off the walls. 

Percy and Jason had an awkward moment where both boys had tried to take the seat at the head of the table before Annabeth had come in. Percy had slipped to the other end, to sit by Frank, while Jason sat almost protectively at Annabeth’s right hand with Piper on his other side. 

Leo was the first to address the group. “So where to, gang?” he said through a mouthful of pizza. 

“I spotted some eagles flying over Salt Lake City, the Roman’s aren’t far behind us. We should put some distance down between them,” Frank said, poking at his spaghetti. 

“Avoid Romans. Got it,” Leo pretended to take notes on his napkin with his fork. 

“This is serious. The eagles have basically unmatched tracking power. They’ll be able to find us as long as we’re not over the ocean,” the group shifted uncomfortably at Hazel’s comment. “And on top of that, Nemesis said that we only have six days to rescue Nico, and until Rome is destroyed.” 

Annabeth looked around the room. Piper opened her mouth and closed it a few times before deciding to speak up. “I’ve also been seeing some stuff in my knife,” pulling out Katoptris, and laying it next to her plate. 

Percy's eyes widened. “You have a TV knife?” 

Piper rolled her eyes. “No, it just gives me visions sometimes. I’ve been seeing two giants - they look like twins.”

“Like in Ella’s prophecy,” Annabeth said. The group turned to look at her. “ _ Twins snuff out angel’s breath _ . And as for the rest of the prophecy, I’ve been floating around the idea that maybe it has something to do with the reason Greeks and Romans have never gotten along.”

“Nemesis said something about an old score needing to be settled. In order two bring the Roman and Greek sides of the gods into harmony again,” Leo said, fidgeting nervously. 

Jason’s face had turned a sickly shade of yellow. Annabeth narrowed her eyes looking at him, he was refusing to meet her eye. She decided to bring it up later. 

“Maybe we should call it a night on prophecy interpretation,” Annabeth suggested. The room seemed to collectively exhale in relief. 

Leo stood up and put his hand on the wall of the ship, seemingly listening. “Well we got out of the lake, but we need to stop one more time so I can do some more repairs. Anyone got any suggestions?” 

Piper looked up. “How do we feel about Kansas?” 


	6. Annabeth

**Annabeth**

And that was how she found herself again on the deck of the Argo II for the second time that day, sitting out on another mission. 

Piper had said that she had seen a man in purple in her blade and asked Percy and Jason to come with her to find him. She directed Leo to an exit on a highway outside of Topeka. Apparently, the best Leo could do was a near crash landing about 10 miles away from the mile 52 marker that Piper had seen.

Jason had called Tempest, but Percy had looked nauseous at the thought of climbing on the wind horse. That’s when Annabeth had remembered Blackjack. She had been taking care of the pegasus since Percy had disappeared and told Percy to concentrate and think of his name. Within a few moments, the black pegasus had emerged from the sky and had practically knocked Percy to the ground in a strange embrace. Blackjack made a series of excited noises, and Percy had wildly swung around to face the group. “He talks?! Okay, this is awesome.” 

The trio had disappeared into the dusk, just as the sun had started to lower in the sky. Annabeth had tried to help Leo with some of the repairs, but it was much more advanced and intricate than the quick cover job they had done in Utah, and Annabeth found herself being a lot less helpful. So she had settled on the deck with Hazel, who, still looking green, was taking a break from the rocking of the ship down below. 

The pair had talked about their families, but Annabeth quickly found that Hazel didn’t seem especially fond of the topic, so they moved on. Annabeth told her stories from camp, a few with the adventures of her and Percy over the years. Hazel was a good listener. Her eyes were bright, she laughed at the right places, and nodded her head. Hazel told a few stories about her, Frank and Percy’s adventures north, about how they found Ella, and all of the stupid conversations that they had along the way. Annabeth found herself smiling and laughing more than she had in a long time. But hearing about Percy was still melancholic to her. 

The sun was just about to dip below the horizon and set for the night as a spec appeared in the sky. At first, Annabeth had thought it was just another bird circling the endless fields, but it soon became clear that this was bigger than any bird. 

“Is that them?” Hazel squinted at the shape. “Shouldn’t there be a pair of them? Tempest and Blackjack?”

“Oh no,” Annabeth said under her breath.

Blackjack was tumbling through the sky instead of his usual gliding, under the weight of three demigods. Jason and Percy were both slumped over the neck of the pegasus, and Piper was frantically holding onto the two, trying to keep them upright. 

“Incoming!” Piper screamed as Blackjack tripped onto the deck, throwing all three demigods off of his back. Percy and Jason lay lifeless on the deck, as Piper started to stand up. Blackjack scrambled to his feet, neighed, and flew off into the darkening night. Panic rose in Annabeth’s throat as she registered Percy’s body slumped awkwardly on the ground. She immediately rushed to his side and pulled his head into her lap to find a pulse. Hazel did the same for Jason, as Piper managed to stand and walk over to the two. 

“They’re alive don’t worry,” Piper said, rubbing her shoulder, and kneeling down next to Jason. “Just heavily concussed.”

“What in the world happened?” Hazel asked. 

“Well whatever possessed Leo, it came back, but for the both of them,” Piper motioned to the boys. “Gaia spoke to us, while they were possessed. She said that she only needs one boy and one girl, so she made Jason and Percy fight each other. Percy knocked Jason out, and was about to kill him when Blackjack managed to get a hit in on the back of Percy’s head.” 

The girls called Frank up from inside the ship, and with his help, they managed to haul both boys into the sickbay and on to the beds. 

Piper stood by Jason’s bed and wiped some dirt from his forehead. Hazel settled in on the floor, fiddling with a ruby in her hands. Annabeth took the seat next to Percy’s bed and examined the large hoof-shaped bump that was appearing on the back of his head. 

“It wasn’t a total failure,” Piper said, pulling out her blade and peering into it. “We found Bacchus. He told us about a guy named Phorcys in Atlanta, who can apparently give us more information on the twin giants. But he declined to help us.” 

“Atlanta, huh?” Annabeth murmured, staring at Percy’s face. This was the first time she had seen him at peace in so long.

Piper walked over to her and placed a hand on Annabeth’s shoulder. “He’ll be okay.”

Annabeth offered her a small smile and a nod. 

“Well, these two should wake up soon, and I want to try something to get rid of whatever is haunting this ship. I’ll go tell Leo about Atlanta, and try and see some more in Katoptris.” Piper left the sickbay, and silence fell in between Annabeth and Hazel, the only sound was the faint breathing of Percy and Jason. 

Annabeth ran her fingers through Percy’s hair, brushing the dust away. It was strange touching him after so long. She felt weird having been so forced around him just hours ago, but for now, she let herself imagine that when he woke up, it would be normal again. He would grin at her, flash his green eyes, and then pull her into a kiss, still laughing, “Wise girl.”

“He was your boyfriend, wasn’t he?” Hazel asked, her eyes sad and warm.

Annabeth sighed and pulled her hand away from his face. “Yeah, for a bit.”

“How long?” 

“Two months. But I’ve known Percy since we were twelve,” she said, smiling at the happy memories from those two months. In the next bed, Jason groaned, and scrunched up his face, but soon released, and seemed to sink back into unconsciousness. 

“What was he like when you were younger?” Hazel asked, her tone more gentle than before. 

“He was a bit of an idiot,” Annabeth laughed. “I’m kidding mostly, but he did have his moments. I dunno, he was mostly the same? He gradually got more serious as he got older, but he’s always been loyal. That was the first thing I liked about him. He never lost faith in his friends. And of course, he made me laugh. Even when we were half dead, he could still crack a joke. What else... you know I never thought people gave him enough credit for how smart he really is. I used to tease him all the time about the myths he would forget, and he would say that it was my job in our duo to be the smart one. But in battle, I’ve never seen anyone like him. He always knows where to be, who needs help. If that’s not smarts I don’t know what is. But of course, he was also so unbelievably stupid. I’d liked him for years, and he only figured it out last summer,” Annabeth smiled thinking about their kiss after the battle of Manhattan, being thrown in the lake by the whole Camp. 

“I know we just met, and I’ve never seen you two  _ together _ , but for what it’s worth, you seem like you’d be a good couple,” Hazel said. 

“Thank you. That’s really sweet. I was so worried about him, all those months, but knowing he had you and Frank, it makes me happy that he met such great people. And thank you for letting me ramble.” 

Jason groaned again and slowly sat up in bed, holding his head in his hands. “What the- where’s Piper?” he asked, his voice raspy. 

“Here, drink this,” Hazel handed him a cup of nectar. “Piper’s fine, she went to go find Leo and set a course for Atlanta. She brought you and Percy back to the ship after your little fight.” Jason groaned as if remembering. 

Jason took a long drink from the cup. “I should go find her. Is he okay?” He motioned to Percy who was still passed out on the bed, his mouth wide open.

“He’ll be fine, but you’re both probably concussed. Are you sure you’re okay to walk?” Annabeth asked as Jason got up from the bed. 

“Hey we all got knocked out today, us and Leo,” Jason said, cracking his neck. “I’ll be fine.” And with that, he strode out of the room. Hazel shook her head and scoffed at the son of Jupiter. 

Annabeth found herself laughing with Hazel at the strangeness of the day. “Four of the seven of us all knocked out on day one. This will be an interesting quest.”

“Don’t worry, on tomorrow’s agenda it’s me, Frank, Piper, and Coach Hedge,” Hazel said, fighting more giggles. 

At the sound of their laughter, Percy started to stir next to Annabeth. He moved his head around on the pillow, and let out a deep sigh. He slowly blinked open his eyes and stared into Annabeth’s. She felt like a deer in the headlights. She couldn’t move or even blink. She shouldn’t have done this, she shouldn’t have sat with him, her fingers in his hair. It was all too intimate. “Annabeth…” he whispered her name, looking at her, his eyes were unfocused and a smile pulling at his lips. His face was bronze in the light of the lamps, making him glow next to her. “Was I drooling?” he smirked. And with those words, his head slumped against the pillow again, falling back into sleep. 

“What was that?” Hazel asked confused. 

“Oh gods…” Annabeth hadn’t dared to move, not even to breathe. She could feel the prick of tears behind her eyes. “I think he… That was what I said to him the first time we met. He had just got to camp, he fought the minotaur,” she whispered, scared to disturb the air in the room and wake him. 

“He fought the minotaur when he was twelve?” Hazel asked. 

Annabeth nodded. “He passed out at the border, and he was brought to the infirmary. He was out for such a long time, and I had to watch him for a bit. Then when he finally woke up, the first thing I said to him was ‘You drool in your sleep.’” 

Hazel paused. Annabeth still hadn’t taken her eyes off of Percy. “Do you think… maybe he remembers?” 

Annabeth swallowed. She could feel the hot tears welling in her eyes. The way he had said her name, his smile, his eyes. All of it. It had been the first time he had looked at her like that since he had disappeared. “I - I don’t know. I can’t get my hopes up,” she looked at Hazel, who was staring at her with a fresh wave of pity. “I need to go,” Annabeth said, quickly standing up from beside Percy, who had started to move again. “Bring him to the mess hall when he wakes up. Please?” 

Hazel nodded. And with that, Annabeth walked out of the room and made a line for her cabin, narrowly avoiding Leo who was whistling as he walked to the mess hall. “Hey, Annabeth! Piper called a meeting in five!” 

“Okay, thanks!” She yelled back at him, not turning to show her face which was now streaked in tears. 

She quickly shut the door of her cabin, and slid down the back of the door, her face in her hands. Sobs racked her body, and Annabeth scolded herself to pull it back together. She didn’t have time for an anxiety attack. She took deep breaths to calm her jagged breathing.

It wasn’t that she had forgotten what she had with Percy. But the memories, like all things, after a few months without contact, had started to fade, and become blurry around the edges. 

In the first days of Percy’s disappearance, Annabeth had taken an empty journal from the Athena cabin, and when all of her siblings were asleep, she would scrawl all of her memories of Percy down in messy and rushed handwriting. When she wasn’t searching for him, she was buried in the journal. She wrote about his face, his eyes, his hair. She tried to remember the jokes he would tell her, she wrote about his favorite food, the sound of his laugh. Annabeth wrote about how he hugged her, how he kissed her, how he brushed back her hair when it would get in her eyes. Annabeth wrote down pages and pages of the stories of their quests together. Everything she could remember, every detail of him was in this journal. 

Before Jason, Leo and Piper were found, Annabeth had no leads, and a growing fear that maybe he would never show up again. She would never admit it, but the journal had been her ‘just in case’. Just in case she never saw him again, or gods forbid he was dead, at least she could have this - a crudely constructed picture of Percy and their life together. After they found out that Percy and Jason had been swapped, Annabeth was able to relax a little bit. He was alive, and hopefully safe. 

From then on, the journal had become a crutch. It was her secret, and in a way, it was like having him with her. She could read her notes and be reminded of him, and even pretend that he was really just sitting next to her, his arm around her shoulders. 

Seeing Percy again was a little bit like the journal version of him. He was so close, and most of him was the same, but she couldn’t really touch him, be with him. But that moment, that moment of contact with him in the sickbay, it felt so different. She had really been with him. He was Percy in that moment, really  _ Percy _ . And it hurt. It was a pain in her chest, weighing down on her lungs, making it hard to breathe again. 

Annabeth took a rattling breath and shakily stood. She braced herself for whatever was outside of the door and pulled the handle open. 

  
  
  



	7. Percy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the love so far, I'm loving writing this. A bit of a shorter chapter today, a longer one is on the way shortly!

**Percy**

_ Ow _ . That was his first thought. And his second. He blinked his eyes slowly, adjusting to the light. He was in the sickbay of the ship, lying on one of the beds, Hazel sitting next to him. 

Hazel yelped as Percy grunted and tried to sit up, becoming all too aware of the throbbing pain at the back of his head. 

“You’re awake,” Hazel said, her eyes wide.

“I wish I wasn’t.” Percy worked himself into a sitting position and reached back behind his head to feel a large tender bump growing. 

Hazel eyed him nervously. “How do you feel?” she asked. 

Percy raised an eyebrow at her in amusement. “I feel like I’ve been kicked in the back of the head by a doughnut obsessed pegasus.”

“No, no not that.” She handed him a glass of nectar, which he gladly accepted. It tasted like blondies. “Do you feel like… yourself?” she asked, examining his face.

“Hazel, I swear I’m not still being controlled by the - whatever it is. You’re safe.”

She scoffed. “No that’s not what I mean. Do you feel like maybe something’s changed? Like maybe you’re more  _ whole _ ?”

Percy wrinkled his eyebrows in confusion. “Hazel what are you on about? Are you asking if I remember? Cause I don’t. Still.” 

She gave him a small frown. “Hmm. Forget I said anything. Do you think you can walk? Piper called a meeting in the mess hall.”

She helped him out of bed, and Percy found his head spinning at his first few steps. But soon it had faded to a dull ache at the back of his head. The pair walked to the mess hall to find the other five demigods already sat down around the table. 

The air in the room was tense, yet again. Jason smiled sheepishly at him, and he found Annabeth searching his face before he caught her eye, and she quickly looked away. Leo seemed to be the only one in good spirits, after finding out that was not the only one to be possessed.

Piper quickly launched into telling the story of Topeka and Mr. B. Everyone in the room seemed to be holding onto every one of her words, which was especially impressive considering everyone in the room had horrible ADHD. Percy had learned firsthand about her charmspeak, but this wasn’t that; at least not on purpose. The daughter of Aphrodite held the attention of the room better than anyone Percy could remember. 

Percy took a deep breath when Piper had finished describing the fight between Jason and him. “Hey sorry man, for almost killing you.”

“Same here, man. Sorry for electrocuting you. But now that we know about the eildons, we should try and contact Reyna,” Jason said turning to Piper. 

Annabeth shook her head. “Jason, Reyna seems reasonable, but Octavian? Some of the other Romans? This explanation won’t be enough for them.”

Leo looked up from the spare parts he had laid on the table. “So what? We just keep running from the Romans until they stop chasing us?” 

Hazel nodded. “Sums it up.”

Jason slumped into his chair, his expression dark. 

Frank cleared his throat. “I’m still confused about the prophecy. The Mark of Athena? The Twins? Do we actually know what any of it means?”

Annabeth’s eyes flashed dangerously at the mention of Athena. She quickly pushed the expression off of her face and replaced it with a feigned look of concentration. But Percy knew something was wrong. No one else in the group had seemed to notice it, but to Percy, it was painfully obvious. Annabeth knew something about the prophecy that she wasn’t willing to share. 

He tore his eyes from her and clapped Frank on the back. “That my friend is why we are going to Atlanta!”

Piper nodded in agreement. “Right, Bacchus told us to look for Phorcys in Atlanta. He said that he should be able to help us.”

“Atlanta here we come!” Leo said, drumming his fingers on the table. “We should get there around noon. And it’s getting late, so I suggest we all get to sleep, little demigods! Papa Leo bids you farewell!”

“Wait. Everyone wait.” 

This time Percy could feel the charmspeak in Piper’s voice, and the group all quickly sat back down in their seats which they had just started to rise from. Piper fidgeted in her seat as the rest of the group sat silently, awaiting orders.

“The eidolons. They’re still here.” 

Percy sucked in a breath. He had actively tried not to think too much about his experience under their control. The memories were hazy, but it had not been a comfortable experience, he knew that much. 

Piper took a deep breath. “I need you all to trust me.” 

The moment she called the eidolons forward, Percy felt his mind go slack. It was like watching the world through a TV screen, but there was horrible lag, and the image was swimming. Worst of all, he could feel his mind, his body, fighting the presence of the spirit, but nothing was happening. He felt himself turn to Hazel and say scathing words based on the look on her face. Eventually, after Piper had spoken to him, Leo and Jason, he felt a pulling sensation in the front of his head, the eidolon seemingly deciding if it wanted to stay or go. With a final command from Piper, Percy regained control of himself as he slumped forwards, straight into Annabeth’s arms. 

She seemed caught off guard at his weight suddenly on her, and she steadied the two of them. Percy finally remembered how to use his legs, and supported his own weight, but found that his arm was still wrapped around her waist. Her arms were warm, and he felt her hair on his cheek. It was soft. 

He made eye contact with Annabeth, both of their eyes not registering the situation, mouths hanging open in shock. 

She recovered first, and pushed him away gently, detangling her arms from him. She took several stumbling steps backward away from him, and he saw a blush form on her face, one to match his own. Annabeth mumbled a hurried goodnight to the group and stalked out of the mess hall. 

His face was still beet red, and he stood speechless, watching her leave. His mind wouldn’t stop replaying her face finally registering the all-to-intimate position his fall had put them in, and then her apparent disgust at their contact. He wished he had landed on the floor. 

The rest of the group started heading into their cabins for the night, it had gotten pretty late. Piper, Jason, and Leo all headed up to the deck (not before Piper offered him a smirk), and Hazel and Frank hugged Percy goodnight. 

The moment he stepped into his cabin, he felt the exhaustion creep in. It had been a long day regardless, but Percy was struck by the thought of how long it had been since he had a break from it all. As long as he could remember, he had been fighting. The moment he had woken up at the Wolf House, Lupa had drilled him constantly, and she taught him specifically how to sleep lightly, always on the lookout for an attack. Then, after his training with her, Percy had felt like he had barely slept while on the run from the Gorgons. At Camp Jupiter, Percy had just managed a few nights of rest before he was again without a bed. 

He breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of the bed in his cabin. He found a t-shirt and a pair of pajama pants in one of the drawers in the room, and promptly collapsed on the bed, not even bothering to turn out the lights. Percy was asleep almost instantly. 


	8. Percy

**Percy**

It was horrible. The moment his head hit the pillow, Percy was plunged into a series of nightmares that felt like real life. First, he had been back on his quest with Hazel and Frank drowning in the dirt in Alaska. Next, it had been who Percy assumed to be the twin giants everyone was talking about. Personally, Percy didn’t see what the big deal was. His dream of them had been… interesting- though admittedly a bit unnerving, despite the weird outfit choices. That was until he saw Nico, unconscious in a bronze jar, curled on the floor, seeds scattered around him. That had just been terrifying. 

Finally, and maybe worst of all, Percy had been sitting in the passenger seat of a car with the same woman from his dream after he had passed out in New Rome that morning.  _ Mom _ . They were driving on a road in between some fields. She turned and looked at him, and smiled as the sun shone through the windows. Some old classic rock song was playing on the radio, and the woman turned it up, her head nodding with the music. Percy felt a grin form on his face, his eyes beaming. Suddenly, as if someone had changed the channel, he was standing on a hill in the dark, watching the woman erupt into a shower of light as a half-bull-half-man monster held her up in the air. Percy screamed and yelled, and just as he moved his body to attack, he sat bolt upright in bed, a cold sweat on his skin. 

It took him a minute to remember where he was. His breathing was quick like he had been running. Percy pulled his hands to his face and found tears on his cheeks. This was probably his least favorite part of being a demigod. After a long day of reuniting with a girl he didn’t remember, being attacked by a ghost on a ship, being chased by tar monsters, being possessed, and then knocked out by a flying horse, Percy couldn’t even manage a goodnight’s sleep. 

He turned and looked at the digital clock next to the bed, which read 3:36 AM. Percy figured that he had fallen asleep around 12:45, which gave him about three hours of sleep. He groaned and rolled over in bed, reminding himself of the dream with the giants, in case what they said was important. He debated whether or not to tell Hazel about Nico. On one hand, he knew that he would rather know if  _ his _ brother was alive in a jar, but he worried that the information would do her more harm than good. 

He lay in bed for another 20 minutes, tossing and turning. He could feel his body begging for sleep, but Percy’s mind wouldn’t stop racing. Finally, he decided that he wasn’t going to fall asleep anytime soon. He pulled himself out of bed and quietly opened the door to his cabin. The hallway was dimly lit, but empty. Percy could hear Frank's light snoring from inside the cabin next to his. 

Percy hadn’t had any time to admire or explore the ship since leaving New Rome, but it really was impressive. The first floor below the deck was reserved for the cabins of the eight crew members, plus two spares, the sickbay, and the mess hall. Then down a narrow set of stairs, was the last level of the ship, which Percy hadn’t even stepped foot in. 

He slowly made his way down the stairs, being as quiet as possible, to not wake anyone, but especially Coach Hegde. The last thing Percy wanted right now was a baseball bat to the stomach. 

So much had happened in just the past few hours, Percy had barely had time to register any of it. What he needed was a nice quiet corner of the ship where he could think. His cabin was fine, but it felt too close to everyone, claustrophobic. 

The bottom floor of the ship was pretty similar to the first. The engine room’s door was closed, and due to the utterly terrifying sounds that it was making, Percy decided to steer clear of it. He walked down the hallway, walking the length of the ship, past rooms filled with supplies. There was a room filled with celestial bronze weapons, a room with food and medical supplies, and a room that looked like it was meant for laundry. At the end of the hallway, he stopped in front of two large double doors. Percy gently pushed them open and was greeted by a stable. In the bottom of a trireme. A  _ stable _ ?

He had to laugh. Leo really had thought of everything. 

The room was by far the biggest on the ship. The walls were lined with hay-filled stalls, and in the middle of the floor was a huge glass panel that showed the clouds that the Argo II was currently sailing over. It was lit by more bronze lamps, casting a low golden light over the scene. The air smelled like hay, but Percy found it oddly calming. 

A girl was sprawled out on a blanket on the glass, facing away from Percy. She hadn’t heard him come in, she was deep in thought staring at the screen of a laptop in front of her. Percy had hoped that it was really anyone else but  _ her _ , even Coach Hedge. Logically he knew that Hazel would faint at the sight of the laptop, and Piper’s hair was much too straight and flat compared to the mass of curls he was looking at. And truth be told, after her interrogation of Percy on their tar mission with Frank, he was relieved it wasn’t Piper. But no, it was Annabeth. 

As soon as the light caught her blond hair he knew it was her. And it filled him with fear. Not scared for his life type of fear (though she was threatening in that way), but a panic, that he rationally couldn’t explain. Things had been ...  _ tense  _ since their reunion in New Rome, especially when she had practically run away from him after their conversation. Since they had been on the ship, he could tell she was avoiding him, trying to not make eye contact, and purposefully staying far away from him at meals. 

It made sense that she would want to stay away from him. Losing Percy had clearly not been fun for her, and then Annabeth had expected him to have his memories back by the time she saw him again. And it had been a more than disappointing truth to learn, that he was still just as lost as he had been weeks ago. 

A part of Percy was telling him to slip out of the doors the same way he had come in: unnoticed. It would be easier this way, he told himself. She didn’t want to see him, that much was clear from her behavior around him. On top of that, being around her seemed to confuse Percy. His headaches seemed to only come when he was around her, and he was filled with a desire to both run as fast as he could from her, and envelope her in a hug. 

His curiosity got the best of him. Annabeth was the only one on the ship who knew Percy from  _ before _ . He had questions about his dreams, his mom, and his life before. He cleared his throat and shuffled his feet. 

At the noise, Annabeth jumped to her feet, slamming the laptop closed, and pulled out a bronze knife all in the span of a second. Her expression went from intense focus, to surprise, to fear, and finally resting on flushed embarrassment. “Percy!”

Percy put his hands up in a sign of peace, and said, “Sorry, I shouldn’t have snuck up on you like that.” 

She eyed him warily, put her knife back in its sheath, and took a deep breath. “No, I’m sorry for overreacting. I thought you were a monster,” she said sheepishly. Percy offered her a lopsided smile and thought he saw pink through the bronze light creeping up her neck. She noticed his attention on her and cleared her throat and looked at the ground. “Um, I can go, if you want to sit down here.” 

“No, not at all. I mean- you don’t have to go, you shouldn’t go,” Percy said, feeling his face growing warm.  _ Gods, why were things so awkward with her?  _ Percy asked silently. 

Annabeth looked like she was trying to find the best exit from the situation, but she rolled back her shoulders and sat down on the blanket. 

Percy slowly walked over to her and sat a safe distance away, in case she changed her mind and decided to stab him. “So what’s your excuse for being up at three in the morning?” he asked.

She sighed and he noticed the dark circles around her eyes. How long had it been since she had slept? Had she looked like this in New Rome? Concern for her washed over him irrationally as he studied her face.“I slept for a bit, but the nightmares were worse than usual tonight, so I came down here to do some research. It’s my favorite part of the ship, and no one usually finds me here. What about you?” she looked up at him. 

“Pretty much the same. Nightmares woke me up and I didn’t like my odds for falling asleep again, so I thought I’d explore some of the ship.”

Annabeth nodded and started fidgeting with a silver coin she pulled from her pocket. Percy flinched slightly remembering Jason’s coin from earlier, but relaxed when it didn’t transform into a deadly weapon. 

A thick silence settled over the pair. Percy looked like the more relaxed of the two, his feet lazily stretched out in front of him, his body leaned back resting on his forearms, but Percy felt far from relaxed. He could feel his pulse racing through his veins, and his muscles felt ready to run or fight. 

Annabeth was sat crossed-legged on the blanket. Her eyes were focused intently on the glass of the floor, studying the clouds below. Her position reminded Percy of a bow, pulled with tension, ready to release. He could see the muscles of her back under her t-shirt straining. She was hunched but not in submission or fear, but almost a fighting stance. An image of her stood over a battle map flashed in Percy’s mind, and she looked the same. Same posture, same expression, same curl of hair falling in her face. The image was warm, like a flush of sunlight over him. It wasn’t a memory, but rather something Percy conjured. But he knew deep down that this wasn’t far from reality, far from something he had known. 

He finally tore his eyes from her and refocused on why he hadn’t fled the stabled in the first place. Percy took a deep breath for what he was about to ask her. “Can I ask you something?” 

Annabeth murmured an “Mhm,” in response, not looking up from the floor.

“Did you ever know my mom?” 

Annabeth turned quickly to look at him, her eyes wide. “Yeah, I do know her. Her name is Sally. Sally Jackson,” she eyed Percy. “Why do you ask?” 

“Right after our conversation in New Rome, when you went back on the ship to check on Leo and Octavian, I kinda passed out, and had a dream, about who I’m pretty sure is my mom.” 

She opened her mouth to say something but decided against it. Her eyes were still blown open, she almost looked like he had just insulted her or some other betrayal. 

“And it wasn’t totally like a dream,” Percy continued. “I was actually smaller - like it was me from when I was younger. I was on a beach, and this woman with brown hair walked up to me and hugged me. Then I woke up. But I definitely knew her, it didn’t feel like she was a stranger at all. It wasn’t anything like my normal nightmares,” he said. 

“It was more like reliving something…” Annabeth said quietly, half to herself. 

“Yeah, I guess that is what it felt like.” 

Her face had paled in the light. “I don’t know if it was actually a memory, but that’s how Jason described getting his memories back. And your mom does have brown hair,” she said, deep in thought.

“There’s more.” Percy then told her about the dream he had that night about the monster holding his mother, and her dissolving into golden light. Annabeth looked like she was on the verge of passing out by the end of it. Even in the soft light, Percy could tell her face had gone white, and her pupils were blown wide. Her breathing had picked up ever so slightly, which Percy should not have been able to notice. 

Before he had launched into his dream, the thought of anyone knowing about it had terrified him. It seemed like the type of deeply personal thing that you are supposed to keep close to your chest and hold on to with a tight grip with the fear that if you let anyone see it, or let them hold it, the memory or moment will leave you forever. But telling Annabeth felt like dropping a weight from his shoulders that Percy hadn’t even registered he was carrying. The words poured from him and filled the air in between him and the girl sitting just feet away. She sat and listened, her eyes never leaving his. Percy felt like he was holding onto her attention like it was a ledge, and he felt her eyes on him like warm hands pulling him up. 

When he finally stopped speaking, his chest tightened as Annabeth’s mind processed the information. He could see the pieces of her mind working together to figure out the problem at hand. Her eyes had gone from calming to desperate as he told his story, searching for an answer in his face. Her eyes were a warm grey in the light of the ship, and Percy felt like he was swimming in their color. He couldn’t look away. She finally took a sharp breath. 

“No, that’s definitely a memory, Percy.”

Percy felt panic rise in his throat. “She’s - she’s still alive, right?” 

Annabeth let out a small laugh. “Yes, yes she’s fine. She’s in New York right now. That memory was from when you first got to camp when we- when you were twelve. You were with your protector, a Satyr named Grover, and your mom, on your way to camp, being chased by the Minotaur. Just as you got to the boundary of the camp, Grover became unconscious and the Minotaur got your mom. We all thought she had been killed, but she was really just taken by Hades. After that, you went kinda crazy on the Minotaur and killed him with his own horn. We found you and Grover both passed out just inside the border of camp.”

The whole time Annabeth told the story, she kept her eyes on Percy, seemingly looking to see any sign of recognition in his eyes as she told him a story of his past. 

“So… she was in the underworld?” 

Annabeth nodded. “There were some  _ other  _ things happening with the gods, but you, Grover, and I went and got her back. It’s a long story. Probably for another time.” 

Percy took a deep breath and realized that he had been shaking. “The underworld,” he repeated. When he was twelve, Percy had been to the underworld and back to rescue his mom, who had been taken by Hades. It couldn’t be real. But he knew Annabeth was telling the truth. 

She eyed him nervously and seemed to recognize the discomfort on his face. “I’m sorry,” she rushed, sitting up to fully face him. Her arm started to reach out to him, but she quickly noticed and yanked it back down to her side. “That was a ton of information I just dropped on you, I’m sorry. We don’t have to talk about  _ before _ ,” she said. The last word looked like it tasted bitter in her mouth. 

“You don’t have to be sorry,” he said. “It’s just weird hearing about the things that happened. A part of me wants to know every detail about everything, but…” he trailed off, trying to find a way to explain it to her. 

“Jason mentioned that it was… uncomfortable, getting his memories back,” Annabeth said, eyeing him with apprehension, as she thought that at any moment Percy would jump back and pull out his sword. 

Seeing her expression settled a dull pain in Percy’s chest. She wasn’t comfortable around him, she jumped every time Percy came within five feet of her. He felt a pang of guilt. It was his fault. Of course, he knew that he couldn’t very well wish his memories back with sheer willpower, but still. Knowing that he was the reason for her stress made him twitch with anxiety. 

He almost moved closer to her, his body thinking that maybe he could comfort her, show her it was just  _ him _ and that she had nothing to worry about. They were safe, they were going to be okay because they were … That’s when Percy’s brain took over and he shook the thought from his head. Annabeth didn’t want that. And even if she did, she was a stranger to him. All of Percy’s context for her had come just since that morning. He couldn’t explain any of his impulses towards her, which meant they were to be shoved aside and buried out of sight. Thinking about it made Percy’s head swim. 

He realized that it had probably been several minutes since she had last spoken, while Percy just stared at the glass of the floor, deep in thought. He cleared his throat to break the silence. Annabeth looked up at him. 

She had pretty eyes, Percy thought. They were scary as hell, and he felt the familiar feeling of intimidation creep into his throat, but they were still  _ really  _ pretty. Annabeth blinked when he didn’t say anything and Percy realized that not for the first time that day he had openly gawked at her. Gods, Percy hoped she put it off as a symptom of memory loss and not him just being a total idiot. 

Before he could think better of it, Percy blurted out, “There were other dreams. Nightmares, really,” he corrected. 

Her face, which had been painfully expressionless before, turned to one of concern at his confession. “What were your nightmares about?”

So Percy told her. He debated revealing his dream of drowning, it didn’t seem necessary but he described it anyway. Her expression barely flickered in the light of the lamps, but Percy seemed to relax into the conversation with every sentence he told her. He explained the bog, and how he had never been scared of water, but now even that scared him. He told her about his dream of Nico and the giants and the deadline they had given on his life. 

Annabeth shook her head sadly. “I have no idea what the seeds are or what they do, but it sounds like we don’t have much time until he runs out of whatever is keeping him alive.” 

Percy nodded. “Mmh. Five days. That’s not a lot of time,” Percy paused. Annabeth was staring at the coin she held in her fingers, turning it over and over. “Annabeth,” he said quietly, at almost a whisper. She looked up at him, her eyes big. He didn’t say anything else, but he knew he needed to talk more with her. From her reaction to the prophecy earlier, Percy knew she was holding something back. He didn’t know how to say it, he was terrified of scaring her off. So instead he poured pleading into his eyes, wishing he could know what she was thinking. 

Finally, she sighed and blinked slowly. “I know,” she said quietly. Percy saw her jaw clench and her face pale in the light. Whatever it was she was holding onto, it wasn’t good news. Something wrenched in Percy’s chest at the sight of her face. “How did you even know something was up?” she asked. 

Percy shrugged, trying to seem nonchalant. “Uh, it was mostly a guess. But I was watching you- not actually watching you, like not in a creepy way, I mean, I don’t think so -” he rushed, feeling blood rushing to his face and neck. Annabeth smiled at him and rolled her eyes. Percy took a deep breath to collect himself. “When we were eating in the Forum when Ella started reciting that prophecy - we both know it was a prophecy -” Annabeth nodded. “Everyone around the table was shocked, but not you. You just looked, well, scared, I guess.”

“That doesn’t explain how you knew something was wrong. ‘Wisdom's daughter’, you knew I was a daughter of Athena - maybe  _ that’s _ why I was scared,” she protested. 

Percy shook his head. “It wasn’t just that- there were other things, in your body language, your facial expressions from when the group talked earlier. I’m honestly surprised no one else has asked you about it. Besides, it’s the same way you knew just then that I was asking you about this! I didn’t even say anything besides your name, I just looked at you. And you  _ knew _ . You know me-” the words had fallen out of Percy’s mouth before he could think better of it. 

“And you don’t know me!” Annabeth said, her voice breaking on the words.

Annabeth’s eyes had turned from mournful, to angry, and now to something feral. Her chest was moving up and down, as she struggled to breathe. A single tear fell down her cheek, but she didn’t move a millimeter, not acknowledging it. And Percy sat silently, racing to find a way to make her not be upset. That wasn’t what he wanted. 

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that,” Percy said quietly, trying to look as close to a sad puppy as possible, hoping she would take pity on him. It worked.

Annabeth’s shoulders fell and she took a rattling breath, looking away from him. “No, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have gotten upset.”

“You’re allowed to miss him, you know,” Percy said, shifting closer to her. 

Annabeth nodded. “I know. And I do. It’s just hard seeing you, but I can’t  _ really _ talk or touch you,” she said, not meeting his eyes.

“What do you mean, touch me? Am I that irresistible?” he smirked. 

“Ha ha, very funny, Percy. I mean like it was a reflex when you left, to hug you, kiss you-”

“Hold on! Kiss me? We dated?” Percy asked, his face growing red. 

Now it was Annabeth’s turn to blush, her ears turning pink in the light. “Yeah, we did. Is that so repulsive to you?” she challenged defensibly. 

Percy laughed awkwardly, “No! No, not at all. You’re very pretty- I mean, I would be lucky- I must have been a lucky guy to be your boyfriend,” he said as Annabeth gently punched his arm, a playful smile on her face. Percy took a deep breath, “You can trust me you know. I know I don’t have the memories of before, but I knew that I knew you even before we met, when I first saw you. I wouldn’t ever do anything to hurt you, I know that at least.” 

Annabeth smiled sadly at his words, and lay down on the blanket on her back staring at the ceiling, her shoulder just a few inches away from Percy as he moved to do the same. He could still smell her lemon shampoo, but he thought something else was overpowering the smell of hay - new books? 

“I need to tell you something,” she said, her eyes not moving from the ceiling. And then she dove into the story of her encounter with her mom, and what the silver coin was. 

By the end of it, she was grimacing with her eyes closed still facing up away from Percy. 

Percy lifted himself onto his elbows to look at her. In the light her skin and hair were almost the same golden color, and her face was twisted in pain. Whatever she suspected her mission was, it wasn’t good news. Percy reached to her and placed his hand on her shoulder, his fingers brushing a stray curl of hair. 

“Annabeth?” he said quietly. She opened her eyes and stared into his, their faces finally facing each other. Percy decided that he liked her eyes. They were more pretty than scary in this moment. “It’ll be okay. We’ll figure it out. Together.” 

She smiled but looked like she didn’t fully believe him. Her eyes seemed to say, ‘ _ If only you knew. _ ’ 

She took another breath and Percy felt her rise from his hand still resting on her shirt. “Thank you, Percy,” she said quietly as she sat up on the blanket. “We should talk to Hazel about your dream with Nico tomorrow. And I think I’ll ask Jason about this quest, I have a feeling he knows something.” Percy nodded and watched as she stood up from the blanket and walked to stand in front of him. She lifted her wrist and checked a small black watch. “It’s late, we should get some sleep before tomorrow.” 

Annabeth reached out to take Percy’s hand, and pulled him up off of the glass bottom of the Argo II. Percy ended up being pulled up so that he was standing right in front of her, their faces just inches apart. Annabeth lifted her eyes to meet his, which were just a few inches above hers. They stood like that for what felt like a long time, and Percy could feel his pulse quicken as they stared at each other, both of their eyes wide, and breath shallow. Annabeth slowly raised her hand, and brushed some of Percy’s hair out of his face in a gentle sweeping motion, making the hair at the back of Percy’s neck stand up straight. Percy swallowed, and Annabeth blinked, as if falling out of a trance and stepped back, clearing her throat. “We should go up,” she said, not meeting his eyes. 

Percy nodded and followed her out of the stable bay, the lights turning off automatically as they left. They walked side by side through the corridor, shoulders brushing occasionally until they reached her cabin. 

“This is me,” she said quietly, gesturing towards the door. “Um, hey Percy?” 

“Yeah?” 

“Do you remember what happened in the sickbay earlier? After the thing with Jason and Piper?” she asked, wringing her hands nervously. 

“Uh, I don’t think so - I just remember waking up to Hazel, and then we went to the mess hall. Why? Did something happen before that?” he asked. 

“No, don't worry about it. It’s a story for another time,” she said, her voice still low. 

Percy smiled at her raising an eyebrow, deciding to leave it for tonight. He could vaguely hear snoring coming from Frank’s cabin and the engine’s dull vibrations through the ship. In the back of his mind, he couldn’t help that think that in an alternate reality, in some dimension out there, one where he wasn’t a demigod, hadn’t had his memories wiped, and wasn’t aboard a giant bronze warship, him walking a pretty girl back to her room after a night of talking and spilling secrets,  _ might _ lead to Percy leaning in and kissing her here. But not in this reality. 

In this world, he looked at her one last time and said, “Well, I guess this is goodnight.”

Annabeth nodded and started opening her door. “Goodnight, Percy.” 

With that, she slipped into her cabin and quietly shut the door. Percy stood there for a moment longer, until he sighed and walked the few steps to his own cabin. Once inside, he slipped under his covers for the second time that night, but unlike the first, no nightmares awaited him in sleep. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone!
> 
> I hope you're all doing okay! If anyone has been waiting for this chapter - sorry about the long wait in between this one and the last, things got a bit crazy here, and I wish I had set aside more time for writing but c'est la vie. As promised this was a bit of a longer chapter compared to the others I've written, so let me know if you thought it was too long, too short, or just right. Also, let me know if you'd only want me to update with longer chapters (probably less frequently) or if it's fine to do shorter ones. 
> 
> I've also added some fics that I love with Percy and Annabeth to my bookmarks (I think you all can see that?) but do check those out if you are looking for some to read, there are some great writers in there. Also, let me know if YOU GUYS have written anything or have other suggestions for fics I should check out, I am always on the hunt :). 
> 
> As always, do leave a comment if you have a burning thought, feeling, or suggestion, or to just say hi! It blows my mind that anyone would be reading this, so thank you for facilitating my coping mechanism for this crazy world. Love you always! Oh - and happy Thanksgiving (and Black Friday and Small Business Saturday) to any Americans out there!
> 
> EDIT-- ok, so just a quick explanation as to why it takes me so long to pump out these chapters! I am doing this as a side hobby to all of my other work (which is insane right now, unfortunately) and so it usually gets pushed to the back of my To-Do list. I am also really picky about my work being complacent with cannon - which means I'm basically re-reading the book along with writing everything, so it's just taking me longer than it should. I know it can be frustrating since I do not have a consistent update schedule, but I promise, if for any reason I am taking an extended break -- I WILL LET YOU KNOW!! Once I am off of school in a couple of weeks, I am hoping that I'll have plenty more time to write, and I have a rough plan for everything out, but rest assured I am working on stuff as we speak ;). Love you all always -- your fav toaster <3


	9. Annabeth

**Annabeth**

As soon as she eased the door to her cabin closed, Annabeth found herself holding her breath not for the first time that night. The room was dark and cool, making her skin tingle as she waited for some indication that Percy had left. Finally, she heard an exhale on the other side of the door, and the light sounds of his steps as he made his way down the hallway. 

Annabeth took several shallow breaths as she rushed to find the light switch. Her heartbeat hadn’t settled since the moment Percy announced his presence in the stables, nearly causing Annabeth to lunge at him on instinct. She dropped Daedulus’s laptop roughly on her bed as she started pacing back and forth through the small space, running her hands through her hair. 

She could feel the heat of tears in her eyes but forcibly jammed them shut, determined not to cry. She placed her cold hands on her neck in an effort to calm herself down, something her dad had done all those years ago. Annabeth started to feel her pulse lower under her fingertips, as she took deep grounding breaths. 

She sat down gingerly on her bed, placed her head in her hands, and closed her eyes. ‘ _ Fuck _ ,’ she thought. Percy, fucking Percy. Annabeth rarely swore in English, aloud or silently, but tonight called for it. 

He remembered. He remembered Sally. He remembered her hair, her smile, and Montauk. But not  _ her _ . Annabeth tried not to feel stung. Sally was his mother, after all, surely that took precedence over his girlfriend -  _ ex _ -girlfriend? Was that what she was now? Annabeth decided she didn’t have the time or energy to dwell on that particular thought at the moment. 

But still, Annabeth couldn’t help but wish he would remember  _ her  _ face,  _ her _ hair. It was selfish, but the thought wouldn’t leave her mind. And still, even knowing that he had no idea who she was, she got close to him in the stables, against every strain of logic in her head. From the moment she had broken away from the unfortunate reuniting hug, every cell in her body had been screaming at her to touch him again, to make sure he was  _ real _ . And for almost the whole day, she had resisted and listened to the rational part of her brain. Until a few minutes earlier. 

Just for a few seconds, she had forgotten everything. Percy’s lopsided grin and the smell of the ocean that always hung around him had clouded her senses, until all she could see were bright green eyes and soft black tousled hair, still sticking up from where he had slept on it. So Annabeth forgot that the boy standing just a breath away wasn’t hers. Not in the way she wanted - needed him to be. Sure he was taller, tanner, and more sturdy than when he had left her, but those were not the differences that mattered. This was not the same Percy who she sat in the ‘Kindness International’ truck with. He wasn’t the boy she sailed the Sea of Monsters with. This Percy hadn’t held up the sky with her, didn’t know her dad or Luke, and hadn’t sparred with her in the arena at camp hundreds of times. This Percy had never even seen her face until that morning.

This was not the Percy she lost, she told herself over and over again. Fear had started bubbling deep inside Annabeth’s chest since the sickbay. Even long before Percy had disappeared, Annabeth had known that she needed Percy. Maybe deep down she had known for years, but she had first admitted it to herself when Percy had been offered immortality after the Battle of Manhattan. The fear that had racked her body when she thought he might accept it had been nothing like she had ever experienced before, even having seen Percy closer to death than she would have ever liked. And it was because if he said yes, he would have been choosing the gods over her, choosing to leave her. But thank the Fates that he had turned them down. Annabeth remembered his awkward grin as he turned to look at her after his decision, she had felt the blood slowly come back to her face as she tried to push back the tears of relief. 

When she had been forced to separate from Percy, she could barely survive it. She had been embarrassingly debilitated - a shell of her former self. She had slept in his bed for the first few weeks, everyone at camp ignoring the breach of rules until Annabeth found that the room had turned into a bitter reminder of his absence. She had barely talked to anyone, and refused to play capture the flag, or doing anything she had loved from  _ before _ , always claiming a headache or some other ailment. Even sparing which had always been her favorite release, seemed pointless without him as a partner. 

After the first few months of fruitless searching and wallowing, she had started to hate what she saw in her reflection, which resulted in a nearly self-destructive phase of independence, with Annabeth hell-bent on proving that she was fine by herself. Because that is what she was. Alone. If this is what needing Percy felt like, Annabeth couldn’t do it, she had decided. She volunteered for about every quest that fell into campers’ hands, she wandered the woods at night alone, calling monsters who dared come forward to challenge the daughter of Athena. Sometimes she went days without speaking to anyone, only emerging from her research in her cabin for occasional meals and her journeys into the woods.

Eventually, she accepted companionship from more and more people, mostly Piper, Chiron, and Malcolm. She took on a few younger campers and started training and tutoring them in greek and combat strategies. She would even sometimes go and sit at the campfire, though rarely singing. She wasn’t cured, but it was an improvement, one that everyone appreciated. 

But now, with Percy back, she could feel the pull to lean back into him, to fall back to relying on Percy like she had before Hera had swept him away. But this Percy couldn’t be who she needed. He had no reason to be there for her, other than maybe a sense of obligation, which Annabeth knew to be a weak form of motivation. ‘ _ This is not my Percy _ ,’ she thought, again and again. 

Eventually, Annabeth started to feel the pull of sleep. She pulled on a ratty t-shirt, and quickly brushed her teeth, and finally succumbed to the gentle rocking of the ship in the sky and the soft embrace of the bed. 

  
  
  


Annabeth woke to the sound of timid knocking at her door, and Frank’s voice, “Hey Annabeth, time for breakfast - we’ll be in Atlanta in 40 minutes.”

Annabeth groaned into her pillow and turned her face away from the small window next to her bed, hiding her eyes from the light. She eventually pulled herself out from under the covers, shuffling her feet to the communal bathroom down the hall. A few minutes later she emerged with slightly brighter eyes, and her hair pulled up out of her face. 

She was the last person to the mess hall (mornings had never been her strong suit), and found the rest of the group sitting around the table, chatting lazily and munching on various breakfast foods. Percy was deep in conversation with Hazel, both of them talking quietly over their food. Hazel had a bowl of corn flakes, while Annabeth had to do a double take when she saw Percy’s blue waffles stacked high on his plate. 

Percy looked up from his conversation with Hazel as soon as Annabeth stepped into the room, and a grin flashed on his face, as he raised a hand in greeting. Annabeth grimaced slightly but tried to return his friendliness. His face dropped slightly as she strode past his end of the table. ‘ _ Too close, I am getting too close, _ ’ she repeated in her head. Her mind was flooded with visions of him standing just inches away from her from last night. Green eyes, bronze light, a soft smile. ‘ _ Too close. _ ’

Piper beamed when she noticed Annabeth making her way towards her and Leo. “Annabeth, honey! Here, come sit here - Leo move over you’re taking up too much space.” 

Leo jumped up in mock excitement and squealed, “Anniebabes! You’re here for breaky!” 

Annabeth rolled her eyes as Piper reached up to punch Leo’s arm. “Ow Piper! That actually hurts - you know you have sharp knuckles.”

Piper lifted her hand to her mouth and mockingly blew imaginary smoke off her fingers. “I’m counting on it, Flameo boy.”

“Flameo boy?” Leo said, looking hurt. “Really Piper? I’ll give you Flameo - watch out and I’ll flameo your yogurt!”

Frank winced across the table, “Please don’t.”

“Well anyway, welcome back to the world of the living Annabeth! We’ll be in Atlanta in-” he lifted his bare wrist to his face to check the time, “t minus 30 minutes!” 

A bowl of Raisin Bran cereal appeared in the spot in front of her, which Annabeth didn’t have much interest in eating. Her nerves were always worse in the morning, and eating early in the day made her stomach turn. 

“So, what’s the plan, team?” Jason asked, holding a mug of tea in his hands. 

Percy cleared his throat and put down his fork. “Uh, it’s probably best if Frank and I go, and one more person,” Percy paused slightly, “Frank was thinking that Annabeth, maybe it would be good if you came.” Frank looked slightly taken aback at the suggestion that he might have had some part in Percy’s plan, but he held his tongue. 

‘ _ Di immortales _ ,’ Annabeth swore in her head. The plan was to avoid him, not go on a mission with him. Before she had a chance to even think of a response, Coach Hedge came bounding into the room. 

“No need to fear, I will go on the mission since you sissies need me so much!” he said happily, reaching into Frank’s hands and plucking the apple from his grasp before taking a large bite, stem and all. 

Percy blinked, as if only just realizing that his mission had been hijacked by a satyr. “Coach Hedge, no offense-” 

“-now I know you cupcakes won’t know what to do with yourselves while protecting the ship,” he gestured to the rest of the group, “but I promise, it’s very simple. Just shoot at anything that moves!” he said through another mouthful of apple. 

“How about we not do that,” Hazel said slowly as if she was scared of startling Coach Hegde.

“Fine, fine, defend the ship however you want while I’m gone. We’re going on a GUYS TRIP!” He pulled Percy and Frank into the crooks of his arms and crushed their faces against his bright orange polo shirt. 

Leo laughed and put his fingers in front of his face as if framing the scene. “Man do I wish I had a camera right now,” he said through his grin. 

Frank scowled as he tore himself out of the arms of the satyr as Percy awkwardly patted Coach Hedge on the shoulder, also extracting himself. 

Hazel beamed at Frank as he scooted as far away from Coach Hedge as he could, and Frank seemed to relax at her smile

“Alright kids, well this has been fun but I’m off to do some pre-butt kick stretching - I’d advise you do the same,” Hedge pointed an accusatory finger at Frank and Percy as he stomped out of the room, swinging his arms as he went. 

Percy looked around the table, a baffled look on his face. “What just happened?”

Piper laughed and shrugged her shoulders, “Coach Hedge, that’s what.”

Jason nodded thoughtfully and took a drink from his mug. “Mhm, yes. He likes to be  _ involved _ .”

Percy scowled at this. “We’re going to see a  _ sea  _ god, I don’t understand why someone else shouldn’t-”

Annabeth saw Piper's eyes light up in a way that made her skittish - it was the same look she had gotten when Piper had collaborated with the Stoll brothers to prank the Ares cabin that Christmas. “-Percy, so sorry to interrupt,” she batted her eyelashes at him. Annabeth saw Jason and Leo roll their eyes, clearly familiar with this routine, “but if you don’t mind me asking, why are you so insistent that Ann- OW!” 

Annabeth had turned in her seat to kick Piper’s shins under the table. “What was that for?!” Piper asked, turning to Annabeth. 

She quickly widened her eyes, faking innocence. “What are you looking at me for? I didn’t do anything!” Annabeth said, holding her hands in the air. 

Leo shook his head. “You are just asking for trouble, Beauty Queen. Come on, I need help with Beauford,” he said, pulling Piper out of her seat. 

Piper grumbled that she had just been asking a simple question as she exited the room, but not before raising an eyebrow at Annabeth suspiciously. She wondered if maybe Piper’s charmspeak went further than just words spoken aloud, as Annabeth could swear she could feel Piper saying, ‘ _ We’ll talk about this later _ .’ 

After the pair had left, Jason walked over to Percy and Frank and clapped them on the shoulders. For some reason Percy’s face was flushed pink, his eyes avoiding Annabeth’s general direction. “I know Coach Hedge can be a lot, but he was right about the stretching. You two should get ready.”

Percy shrugged. “It’s just a scouting mission, if we find him we’ll just talk.”

Jason raised his eyebrows but didn’t say anything. 

“I don’t know why everyone always expects violence on these missions, we’ll be fine!” Frank said quietly, moving closer to Hazel. 

The girl let out a light laugh, making her amber eyes twinkle, as she looped an arm into Franks. “Hmmm… I wonder why? It’s not as if we’ve never managed to go on a totally violence and monster free mission,” she said, her smile growing wider as Percy mocked offense, holding his hands to his sternum. 

“Okay, point taken,” Percy said, rolling his eyes with an easy smile. “Come on Frank, let's leave these losers,” he pointed his look at Annabeth, his grin huge. When she didn’t move except to offer a polite smile back to him, his face slowly fell to gentle confusion. 

Frank’s eyes flickered between Percy and Annabeth, recognizing the tension that had quickly swept through the room. Annabeth saw him turn to Hazel, his eyes pleading. Hazel’s shoulders shrugged ever so slightly and raised an eyebrow at him. 

Frank dropped his shoulders in defeat. He sighed and slung an arm over Percy. “Come on Percy, let’s go, uh, stretch I guess.” Percy who had become very interested in the remains of his waffles looked up, and grunted in agreement, and stood up from the table with Frank. 

Hazel followed the two boys out of the mess hall, shooting Annabeth a tight smile as she left. 

Annabeth turned her head to Jason, the only other demigod in the room. 

The son of Jupiter’s eyes were deceptively neutral as his gaze swept over Annabeth’s face, searching for some ounce of emotion. Annabeth tried not to let anything but strength cross her face. Apparently, it didn’t work. 

“Do you want to talk about  _ that _ ?” Jason raised an eyebrow as he motioned to the door where the rest had exited. 

“No, not really,” she said, trying not to clench her jaw. 

“Okay,” Jason said. Annabeth was silently thankful for him not pressing the issue further. He stood up from the table and walked towards the open doors to the rest of the ship. He turned to Annabeth and gave her a pointed look. “You coming? I’m sure Leo has things for us to do. Chores n’ stuff.” 

“Does that include toilet cleaning?” Annabeth asked, shooting Jason an innocent smile. 

He took a moment to think about her question, rubbing his chin with his hand. “Hmm. Yes, I think so.” 

Annabeth let out a dejected sigh and shook her head sadly. “I’m sorry Jason, I don’t know if I’m up for that.” 

Jason grimaced. “I can’t believe what I’m about to say,” his shoulders slumped as Annabeth grinned at him. “ _ I will take the toilet cleaning duty _ ,” he gritted out through clenched teeth. 

Annabeth lept up from her seat at his words and placed her hand over her heart as she waltzed over to meet him. “Why, Jason, I don’t know what to say!” 

He rolled his eyes as the two of them headed for the control room on the top deck. “The things I do…” 

Jason did end up cleaning toilets after Leo locked him in the bathroom and threatened to keep him there until it was done. Annabeth and Piper ended up taking inventory and replenishing the stock of the infirmary storeroom, while Hazel and Leo worked on the deck. Still a few miles from Atlanta, the ship flew quickly through the sky gently rocking the storeroom, as Piper and Annabeth counted supplies. Piper had been uncharacteristically quiet in the few minutes they had been below deck, but it didn’t last.

“So… Leo and Hazel, huh?” Piper said, feigning nonchalance as she counted squares of ambrosia. 

Annabeth looked up from the rolls of bandages. “What about them?” 

“Nothing! I just get a weird vibe-”

“-Piper, take one look at Frank and Hazel together, and tell me again about Hazel and Leo.” 

Piper put her arms up in a show of peace. Annabeth smiled slightly at her friend and her strange abilities. Deep down Annabeth knew she was at least partially right. There was something odd about Hazel and Leo’s relationship, but they clearly were not ready to talk about whatever it was and Annabeth was sure that Frank had nothing to worry about. So she decided not to press it. Piper had different ideas. 

“I don’t know, I’m  _ never  _ wrong about this stuff, and I feel like there’s something… different about them-”

“Piper,” Annabeth said, looking at her friend. 

“Yeah?”

“Please, can we drop it?”

Piper sighed and marked something down on the clipboard Leo had given them. “Fine, I’ll drop it. We don’t have to talk about Hazel and Leo if you don’t want to.” 

“Thank you-”

“-But that means we  _ have  _ to talk about you and Percy.”

Annabeth groaned. “Piper, there’s nothing to talk about-”

“Uh-huh, likely story missy. I saw the look he gave you this morning- you talked to him last night, didn’t you?” Piper asked, moving to sit next to Annabeth. 

Annabeth did some quick mental calculations, trying to figure out how much, if anything, she wanted to reveal to Piper. On one hand, Annabeth was desperate to talk to someone about it, and on the Argo II, Piper was Annabeth’s closest friend.  _ But _ , to tell Piper about it, would be to admit that last night had affected her, it meant something to her. And it had, Annabeth knew that. But she wasn’t ready to admit it. 

In the time she was thinking, Annabeth felt the ship land lightly, and heard muffled voices above deck. 

“I think we’re here,” Piper said without looking away from Annabeth. 

“Mhm,” she muttered, still deep in thought. 

‘ _ If last night shouldn’t mean anything to you, why are you not telling Piper? _ ’ she argued with herself.

Piper took a deep breath, and her expression turned somber. “Listen, honey. I know this is hard, and  _ I know  _ I can tease sometimes, but I need you to know you can always talk-”

“He came to see me last night,” Annabeth said quietly. 

Piper's eyes widened as her gaze held Annabeth’s, waiting for her to continue. 

“I was sitting in the stable bay last night after I couldn’t sleep,” she said, moving to inspect the healing salve jars. “He snuck up on me, I was researching the giants when he came in.”

“What did you talk about?” 

Annabeth took a deep breath. “His mom, actually. He had a dream about her.”

Piper smiled and leaned towards her friend, “Annabeth, that’s amazing news!”

Annabeth nodded absently, forgetting the task laying at her hands. “I guess. I just can’t get my hopes up.”

“Why not?” Piper asked, confused.

Annabeth laughed bitterly. “I think it would kill me.”

Piper’s face softened at her friend's words. “Honey, you’re gonna be okay no matter what happens with Percy.”

“You saw what I was like after I lost him. I can’t go through that again. I won’t,” she said forcefully, reassuring herself.

Piper nodded in understanding. After a brief pause, she spoke again, “I know it’s scary, but you don’t ever have to do things on your own. You have me and Jason and Leo, and I think even Percy if he’s coming to you about his mom. And Frank and Hazel seem great! Oh! How could I forget Coach Hedge!”

Annabeth laughed lightly at her friend’s words. “Thank you, I know I do, and I appreciate it.” She couldn’t help but think about the task she had been set by her mother, one she had to accomplish decidedly on her own. None of them had any idea of how terrified she truly was. When the Argo II had been on its way to Camp Jupiter, Annabeth had been shaking with anticipation to see Percy again. Not just because she had missed him, but also he was the only one she had any desire to tell about her burden. And even after he didn’t know her, Annabeth had recognised that it was too heavy to hold onto, and she told him. She knew that eventually, she would have to tell the rest of the group, but for now, she allowed this link to tie her and Percy together. 

The girls worked in silence until all of the items had been properly stocked and accounted for. Jason was eventually let out of the bathrooms, and Annabeth and Jason took watch on the deck as the others went down for an early dinner, as early evening set over Atlanta.

The air above the deck was hot and sweet, the air weighed down by humidity. Jason and Annabeth had traded jokes and pleasantries, and Annabeth found herself enjoying the Roman’s company. She felt a pang of guilt for all the months where she had found it too easy to blame and resent him. He really was a good guy. 

While Jason was telling her a story about one of his Roman friend’s Kool Aid addiction, Annabeth heard Coach Hedge’s guttural war call. She and Jason looked at each other for a moment and ran to the ladder, and began to quickly lower it to the ground, as Percy ran into sight followed by a falcon and Coach Hegde. Percy reached the ladder first and yelled up to Annabeth and Jason, “Tell Leo to go! Charleston!”

Annabeth lept away from the ledge and ran down to the mess hall to tell the others and find Leo. The group lept up from the table, with Leo taking off immediately for the control room, with a piece of pizza still hanging out of his mouth. Hazel ran up to Annabeth, and grabbed her forearms, asking if they were okay. After reassuring her, Annabeth followed behind Hazel and Piper as they quickly made their way to the deck as they felt the Argo II take off.

It took everything in Annabeth’s power to not run up to Percy and inspect him for injuries. She was pushing what felt like every instinct and ounce of concern for him deeper inside of her, crushing it into something ugly and mangled. Rationally, she knew that he was fine. His skin was still a deep glowing tan, the lines of his arms and legs interrupted by only small cuts and nicks in his flesh. His hair and clothes were damp from water, making his shirt stick to his chest, which was moving rapidly from their escape. A few locks of hair were falling into his eyes, which were brightly shining if not looking just a little bit tired. 

Annabeth knew that she was probably one of the only people on earth who knew just how powerful Percy really was, and even she found herself being surprised by him and his powers. A little run-in with a few sea gods wasn’t going to kill him. But it would tire him out. He should really go below deck and rest. Annabeth found herself chewing on her lip trying not to interfere and demand that he sleep. ‘ _ Distance. That’s what we need, we need distance, _ ’ she thought as Percy and Frank explained the events of the mission.

Hazel quickly walked over to the two boys and put a hand on each of their chests in a show of familiarity that made something inside of Annabeth ache. Percy leaned into her touch and placed his head on the smaller girl’s shoulder as she rubbed his back. 

“It’s okay, Percy. We’ll go back and get them, I promise,” Hazel murmured to him as he slumped, placing more of his weight on her. 

At this, Annabeth abruptly turned her back on the trio and left the deck of the ship. No tears filled her eyes, but she thought she was going to be sick. She paced around her cabin until the feeling passed, smothered by forced indifference. He was getting along fine without her and she without him. It was simple, really. She heard voices outside of her door headed to the mess hall and debated silently if she wanted to face the masses. The answer was no. 

Instead, she immersed herself in her laptop, mostly focused on the mark of Athena, Daedalus had been a son of Athena, after all. But she suspected that it had come around long after he had been active. She found herself looking at memory loss research for just a few moments, before tearing herself away in the name of self-preservation. 

9 o’clock came with a gentle knock on her door, and Frank’s large frame occupying it. He sheepishly asked her to explain the Chinese finger trap, blushing down his neck as he asked. After he left Annabeth closed her laptop and the woven model lighting up the screen, still flattered that Frank had trusted her. She got ready for sleep, and slipped into the bed, determined to get a better night of sleep than she had the night before. 

After many minutes of listening to her stomach grumble for a lack of dinner, Annabeth decided to slip down the hallway to the mess hall for an apple. She relished in the silence of the ship after everyone had slipped away for bed, no noise except for the drone of the engine one floor below. Annabeth sat down at the table and a bright green apple appeared in front of her, reflecting the light of the bronze lamps. 

Pearls of laughter broke the silence, as Annabeth heard Jason and Piper’s voices muffled through Piper’s door which was closest to the dining area. Annabeth smiled for her friends, and she felt genuinely happy that the pair of them had found each other in all the craziness. Annabeth, at that moment, felt content. ‘ _ A calm before the storm _ ,’ she thought. 

She finished the apple and tossed the core away, remembering Grover and his love for apple cores. Annabeth was just about to head back to her cabin when she saw a light coming from the stairs that led to the lower level. 

Whether it was curiosity, instinct or if she had been possessed, Annabeth wouldn’t be able to explain what led to her carefully walking down the stairs, following the dim light. She passed the engine room, where the hum of the machine was loudest, but she could still make out Leo’s snoring from the room. It was an endearing habit that the whole crew knew about but went unspoken as to not embarrass Leo. 

Annabeth kept walking until she reached the end of the hall where the door to the stables was slightly ajar. Deep golden light was pouring from the gap in the door, making the hallway glow gently. Annabeth silently pushed the door further open so she could see inside the room. 

Percy was sat in the center of the glass floor, stretched out on a blanket, facing away from the door, in the same position he had found Annabeth in the night before.

Annabeth stood, very aware of her hammering heart in her chest, and her breathing, which she was fighting to keep silent. He looked very peaceful on the blanket. He was lying on his back, with his hands supporting his head. He was wearing blue shorts and a grey t-shirt that was probably just a little too small as Leo had just used Percy’s old clothes for reference when stocking his cabin, and Percy had grown since the fall. His chest was gently rising and falling with his breathing, and she couldn’t tell if he was awake or not. 

Annabeth knew how the situation looked. She was watching him - awake or not - without his knowledge. She had told herself that she couldn’t have any more stolen moments with Percy, no more awkward encounters alone, no more brushing his hair back, or sitting at his bedside when he was injured. And yet here she was. A loud part of her was urging her forward into the room, take more moments with him, like last night. Maybe she could tell him more about before. 

Annabeth heard a sigh and Percy sat up slowly, stretching his arms above his head. He looked at his watch, and looked around the stables. He grabbed Riptide which has been laying on the blanket next to him, and slowly started to stand. Annabeth shook herself from her daze and tore her eyes from inside the room, and started quickly away from the stables back to her cabin before Percy could catch her. 

It was going to be a long quest. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas! The next chapter will be a brief break from the kinds of chapters we've had so far, soooo yeah! 
> 
> Again, thank you to anyone reading this, do leave any thoughts, feelings, or suggestions in the comments section - it's greatly appreciated.


	10. Interlude

Late summer, 2005

August at Camp-Half-Blood is nothing like the lazy summer's one might expect from the long days and short nights of Long Island. The morning air is still heavy with dew that settles on the grass, and the mid-day sun is still scorching. Dusk comes earlier with each passing day and voices still fill the air with the sweet rings of children’s laughter. 

But behind the barrier of the great pine tree, sweat is not a result of the sun's heat, but of muscles pumping, pushing and pulling. Here, warriors are forged. Children are handed weapons, thrown into harm's way because that is the way of their world. Bronze connects with leather armor, with steel helmets, and more bronze weapons. Wood is strung together and pulled taught until an arrow soars and reaches its target. Teenagers order battle formations, children scale walls and jump away from fire. 

Here, children are prepared for the eventual and impending battle that is the outside world. There is certainly tragedy here, the Greeks are famous for it, after all. And what else would you call children fighting for their lives on account of choices they were never even given? 

And yet… among all of the pain, the wounds and the grief that these children are made to endure - 

A boy wakes up in the early hours of the morning, in an empty cabin, pushing nightmares away as he readies for another day of drilling and sparing, another day preparing him for battle. And he smiles. A broad grin that nothing has seemingly prompted. He flashes slightly crooked teeth, and his eyes shine through the darkness that still stifles the room, though sunlight has managed to chase away the worst of it. After rushing around for a few minutes, he bolts out of the door, clothes still strewn on the floor of the blue, green and brown cabin.

Across camp, in another, more crowded cabin, a girl wakes, shooting upright in her bed. On her face is a look of fierce determination, piercing eyes, squared shoulders, her mouth forming a small smile set in stone. She rushes, like the boy, but slightly more neatly. She quickly exits the cabin, giving short goodbyes to her slower siblings as she leaves. 

In the center of the formation of cabins, stands the boy, waving as people pass him on their way to a large pavilion across camp. The girl’s brisk walk turns into something of a hidden run as she approaches the boy with his back to her. She slows just in time to collect herself, turning the jog into a strut, as she passes the boy, not turning to him as she says, “Come on, Seaweed Brain, you’re slowing me down.” She hides a grin as she says the words, swinging her arms as she walks. 

The boy rolls his eyes, but starts walking quickly to catch up with her, also sporting a poorly hidden smile on his face. “I was waiting for you, remember? What’s got you all slow this morning?” Percy Jackson says, finally level with the girl again. 

Annabeth Chase now has a cooled look of indifference pushed over her clear happiness to be walking to breakfast with her friend. “I needed time to recover after yesterday,” she says, shrugging her shoulders. 

Percy laughs, clear and bright, matching the early morning sun that warms the air. “It wasn’t  _ that _ bad,” he protests. 

“Listen to me very closely,” she says turning to face him, “I am  _ never  _ getting in a canoe with you again.” She shoots him a trademark glare, with a hint of a smile attached. 

“Fine, that still leaves plenty of watersports. Kayaking, waterskiing, water  _ polo _ , synchronized swimming…” 

Annabeth snorts, “Synchronized swimming, really? I’d like to see that.”

“Anytime, any place. I think I’d be a great synchronized swimmer-”

Another boy jogs to fall in line with the pair, slinking an arm over Percy’s shoulders. He is slightly taller, with curly brown hair covering the start of horns on his head. Oh - and he’s half goat. “What’s this I hear about Percy becoming a synchronized swimmer?” Grover asks, still rubbing the sleep from his eyes. 

“It was hypothetical,” Percy says.

“Woah, big word Percy -,” Annabeth says smiling, raising her eyebrows at the boy, who playfully punches her arm. 

“Watch it, Wise Girl-”

“Anyways! No, it was not hypothetical, and I am expecting a performance this afternoon,” Annabeth says as they approach the dining pavilion. 

Grover lets out a loud laugh “I’m with Annabeth on this one. Sorry, Percy.” He doesn’t look very sorry. 

Percy screws up his face, accepting his fate. “Fine. After lunch at the lake. Are you happy now?” he asks, pointing a look at Annabeth.

“Very.”

The trio walk into the pavilion which has been filled with the early risers of camp. Annabeth beams as she spots an older, taller boy across a few tables, with sandy hair and a scar along his face. “Luke! Hi,” she says, making no effort to hide her smile. Percy resists the urge to roll his eyes as he raises a hand in greeting to the counselor. 

Luke Castellan smiles at Annabeth, and says, “Hey Percy, hey Grover.”

Annabeth waves goodbye to Percy and Grover and heads over to join her siblings at the Athena table, and Percy and Grover head to the Poseidon one. 

“Lucky that you and Annabeth ran into each other on the way to breakfast, huh?” Grover says as he sits down and a can of diet coke appears in front of him. 

Percy shrugs as blue pancakes appear on his plate. “Yeah, just lucky I guess.”

Grover narrows his eyes. “Annabeth is usually up way before either of us.”

“I was up before her today, actually.”

“Oh, interesting,” Grover says while taking a bite out of the now empty can. “So, she just happened to catch up to you then?”

“Uh, yeah, I guess so.”

“Huh.”

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“It doesn’t look like nothing.”

Grover gives a knowing smile and shrugs his shoulders. “I’m dropping it, you want me to drop it.”

“Okay, fine. We’re dropping whatever  _ it _ is.”

Grover lets out a bleat as Mr. D takes his place at the head table, looking worse for wear early in the morning. The god sweeps a lazy gaze over the pavilion, and his beady eyes stop on Percy and Grover. He glares at the pair so intensely, it burns the skin. Grover whimpers and Percy grimaces and looks away. 

“ _ Bah _ , you’d think stopping a war between the gods would come with more thanks,” Grover says quietly. 

Percy shrugs and looks up at the open sky above them. “I don’t know, being a half-blood seems like a pretty crappy job, praise or no praise.”

“Hey, there have got to be some pluses to it! Look at Riptide, that’s pretty awesome,” Grover offers, as a fresh can of Dr. Pepper appears in front of him. 

Percy smiles, but not thinking of the pen in his pocket. He is thinking of his greek lesson with Annabeth that they’ll start after breakfast. He can already picture the exact face she’ll make when he mispronounces a word or cracks a joke about a myth. He’ll watch her roll her eyes, but will see the hint of a smile under her glare that only serves to widen his own grin. And he will make it his mission to get a  _ real _ laugh out of her during their lesson, a laugh that can’t be hidden under a scowl. 

If any good has come with his new life as a half-blood, it surely would include those hours spent with her. And the water powers were pretty cool, if Percy had to mention another perk. 

Grover chews noisily on his aluminum can. “So, big day tomorrow,” Percy says, raising his eyebrows at his friend. 

The young satyr’s smile widens. “I know! I can’t believe they promoted me.”

“Any idea where you’ll start?” 

Grover laughs lightheartedly. “To find Pan? No, but it’ll be okay. I’ll just go wherever the wild calls me.”

“You sound crazy. ‘Where it calls you’? What’s it gonna say? ‘ _ Yoo-hoo, Grover! Over here! _ ’” Percy says in a high pitched voice. 

“You don’t get it because you’re still half-mortal,” Grover sniffs. 

It’s Percy’s turn to laugh, as he says, “Okay, buddy, whatever you say.”

A tall muscular boy with dark skin and deep frown lines etched into his forehead lumbers over to the table that Grover and Percy are sitting at. Despite his intimidating figure, Percy and Grover both grin as the boy approaches the table. 

“Beckendorf! What’s up?” Percy asks, grasping the boy’s large calloused hands as they greet. 

Beckendorf’s laugh booms as he claps Grover on the shoulder, making the smaller satyr quake with the force of the embrace. “Hey guys. Ah, not much. Clarisse has got me working on a new weapon for her,” Percy grimaces at the mention of the daughter of Ares, “but other than that, just the usual.” The boy turns to look at Grover, “I heard the news, man, congrats! When do you leave?” 

“Tomorrow, early, so today’s my last day.”

“Oh damn. Do you want me to hook you up with some of the, uh, more  _ secret _ parts of the amoury before you go?” 

“No, no I’ll be fine, but thanks. Non-violent mission and all that.”

Beckendorf raises his hands, “If you say so,” he says with a kind smile. “Hey Percy, are you and Annabeth sparing this afternoon?”

“Yeah, I think so, why?” 

Grover perks up before Beckendorf can answer. “Is that before or after your synch-” Percy elbows his friend in the side before he can finish his question. 

Beckendorf's eyes twinkle. “Before your what, Percy?” 

The son of Poseidon groans as Grover laughs candidly, more of a series of high pitched squeaks than anything else. In between laughs Grover answers, “Percy agreed to give Annabeth and me a synchronized swimming demonstration in the lake today.”

Beckendorf’s laugh booms across the dining pavilion. “Oh gods, that’s perfect. I asked about you two sparing because I want to see her kick your ass again, and now I’ll get to see her whoop you and then a synchronized swimming show? Grover, that’s a perfect last day.”

“Hey! She’s not gonna kick my -”

Grover still hasn’t stopped his burst of laughter, “Yes, I think it will be a perfect last day.”

Percy and Annabeth’s greek lesson goes exactly how he thought it would, with him getting her to finally crack on a few well-timed jokes about the Graeae, and their singular eyeball. Afterward they walk towards the arena side by side, shoulders brushing, and a few good shoves between them, trying to get the other to lose their balance, all of it broken up by more bright laughs as they throw loose insults at the other. There are a lot of smiles. 

As the two approach the arena, the sounds of metal on metal, and bodies hitting hard ground fill the air. As they enter, the tall sandy blonde from earlier looks up as he holds off four younger campers in the center of the ring, swinging his double-edged blade ‘Backbiter’. Luke looks up at Annabeth and Percy and calls out to them as he knocks one of the kids clean off their feet, “Hey guys, we’ll be done in a minute!”

Annabeth beams and her eyes lock on the older camper, entranced by his movements. Percy understands why her eyes couldn’t leave the boy. His movements were, for lack of a better word, beautiful. Every move was precise and calculated, nothing more than required. Luke knew exactly where the kids around him would jab, where they would place their feet, what would grab their attention enough for him to strike. 

Beauty was, without a doubt, the first word that came to mind when watching Luke. Something about the rhythm of his movements combined with the pure skill of it, no one could say it wasn’t captivating to watch. But if you were to look even a little bit deeper you would see something that didn’t inspire just awe, but something older, and more powerful: fear. 

There is a cruelty in the force behind his strikes, and too little mercy in his eyes as one by one the group around his falls. For Percy, and even Annabeth, it registers only as intimidation, nothing more than an impressive training exercise demonstrated by the son of Hermes. One day soon, the young pair will remember watching him and then finally recognize what can only be called corruption. But for now the two smile on in admiration as Luke straightens to his full height, lending a hand to his pupil who was knocked to the ground. 

Luke brushes some dirt from his orange t-shirt, and wipes sweat away from his brow as he starts towards Percy and Annabeth. “All yours,” he says with a hard smile on his face, and a wink sent in Annabeth’s direction. 

Annabeth clears her throat as red creeps up her neck to the tips of her ears. Percy raises his eyebrows at her and smirks.

“What?” she demands, anger flooding her face. 

“I didn’t say anything!” Percy says holding back a laugh. 

Annabeth rolls her eyes, and gathers her hair back into a ponytail. “Oh, come on Seaweed Brain, let’s go.”

The pair step into the arena as the aftermath of Luke’s sword-fighting lesson straggles out, campers leaning on each other for support. Sometime earlier in the summer, Annabeth had casually mentioned to Percy how Luke never really used to spar with his students, he had favored working more on the straw dummies to demonstrate. “Must be getting more hands-on,” Annabeth had shrugged. 

As the two prepare for the sparring, Annabeth unsheathing her dagger and Percy releasing Riptide, campers gather along the edges of the arena. Percy and Annabeth’s duels have become a sort of odd mid-day entertainment for the camp. Annabeth has the support of the Athena cabin, along with most of Demeter and Hephestus’s cabins. Percy usually had the backing of the Hermes cabin, with Apollo being fairly split between Annabeth and Percy. Clarisse and the Ares cabin choose to jeer at both of them. 

Beckendorf and a younger sibling walk up to greet Luke and shoot Annabeth a smile. “Go get ‘em, Annabeth!”

Percy tries to muster a glare to shoot in their direction but it’s half-hearted. 

“Aw Percy, is trash talk really gonna be what throws you off?” Annabeth asks, her head cocked to the side. The two are facing each other now, weapons drawn, feet set wide apart. She’s waiting for him to make the first move. 

“Not a chance, Wise Girl.” 

The pair begin to circle each other, eyes wide in search of a movement outside of the slow and calculated walk. Percy always makes the first move when they spar, such is the nature of having the longer weapon. He had always wondered why Annabeth chose to have a smaller blade when it meant she was almost always on defense, but she insisted.

Annabeth’s eyes dart down to Percy’s exposed flank, and she lunges forward, as Percy pushes towards her. Her move is not one of aggression, but more to give Percy an opportunity to start his attack.

Between the two, Percy has more raw power. His sword gives him greater range and he can usually count on his strength to over power Annabeth’s, if only by a little. But all of Annabeth’s years of training do not count for nothing. She has better control of her movements, even if they are smaller. And with the smaller weapon, it means she has an easier time maneuvering around Percy and Riptide, being faster and more agile. From the past few weeks since they returned from L.A., the two have been a fairly even match. 

At the first connection of celestial bronze, the ring of metal sounds out through the arena, as campers yell and cheer on their chosen demigod. The sounds of their weapons along with the shuffling of feet on the packed dirt ground, deep breathing and the occasional slam of bodies, the fight looks and sounds vicious. 

But below that, with all of the violence the two are trading, you would see that Percy’s blows are delivered to give Annabeth the opportunity to practice the disarming move Luke had taught them last week. And Annabeth’s evasive maneuvers are done with improving Percy’s stamina in mind. 

There is no anger behind their moves, no scowls exchanged, but rather smiles of surprise when the other lands a blow, and small gentle taunts. Sure, they are eager, both demigods glancing at the growing audience, ready to show off, but their moves are harmless, aside from a few bruises. 

After a few minutes of sparing, the pair are considerably out of breath, and it is now a competition to see who will end it. 

As Annabeth lands a particularly sharp blow to Percy’s side with her elbow, Percy winces, and wipes his brow to cover up the pain. “Come on Annabeth, is that the best you can do?” Percy grits out. 

“Oh yeah?” Annabeth spits out as the pair circle each other again, weapons raised. “I’d like to see you do something other than defending.”

“Come on Annabeth!” a camper yells, as Percy sends a glare in Annabeth's direction as he flexes his shoulders in anticipation. 

“I’ll show you defense,” he grits out as he lunges forward, aiming for her exposed left flank, swinging the flat of his sword. 

Annabeth catches his blade with the joint of her own where the sharp edge of her dagger meets the hilt. The force of the connection jolts Annabeth off balance, as she leans to the side to regain composure, Percy notices her positioning and moves to strike again. 

But the momentary falter was a ploy that Annabeth had been waiting to use, until Percy was worn out enough that she knew it would work. As he lunges forward again, pressing on from his attack just moments earlier, Annabeth spins on her feet until she is on his other side, where with a well-placed swipe of one of her legs, Percy is flat on his back on the ground. 

Before even anyone in the audience has a chance to process the sudden turn of events, Annabeth quickly lowers her weight onto his chest, holding down his arms with her knees, and thrusts her knife at his throat. 

Suddenly cheers erupt from half of the gathered crowd, and Connor Stoll starts collecting Dracmas and other contraband from his winning half of the betting pool. 

Annabeth looks down at her defeated opponent, a wide smile pulling at her face. “Anything you wanna say, Percy?” 

The boy groans and screws up his face, seemingly trying to sink into the ground away from the jeering crowd and his now smug friend. “Ow.”

Annabeth laughs and relinquishes her daggers hold from under Percy’s chin, and she stands, her muscles starting to feel the fatigue. She reaches a hand down to Percy, who has made no effort to move. “Come on, I’ve got you.” 

Percy smiles at her despite it all, and gladly takes her hand as she hauls him to his feet. “I’ll get you next time,” he says as he straightens, trying to see if maybe in the night he had grown taller than her. He hadn’t. 

Annabeth scoffs and looks down at their still clasped hand and quickly lets go. Percy seems to not have noticed as Travis Stoll walks up to them and starts to tell Percy that he needs to pull his weight next time, “Man, I’m losing money!” he says as Connor snickers behind him. 

Luke walks into the arena and Annabeth’s face lights up as he gives her a high five and claps Percy on the shoulder. “Hey, nice work out there, you two,” he says, collected from his show earlier. “Especially you, Annabeth.” 

Percy feels her practically radiate with pride at his words, as she smiles sheepishly and mumbles a ‘thanks’ as her ears turn red.

“We gotta work on your lunging,” Luke says, turning to face Percy. 

“Right now?” Percy asks. Annabeth brightens at the idea of a session between her, Percy and Luke. 

“No, I’ve actually gotta go talk to Chiron about something,” the son of Hermes’s nose wrinkles at the name of the centaur. “And besides, you guys must be starving, you should go get some lunch.” 

Percy smiles and nods at the older camper. “Hey don’t forget capture-the-flag on Friday!” he calls as Luke starts to head out of the arena in the direction of the Big House. 

The boy smirks and yells back, “Oh, you have no idea what’s coming.” And with those words Luke is gone, leaving just Percy and Annabeth.

Percy winces at the older boys ominous words, and the strange and unsettling glint he saw in Luke's eyes. He figures it must just be that he knows what it’s like to be on the receiving end of Backbiter and has no desire to repeat that experience any time soon. 

Percy shakes the strange sequence of thoughts from his head, and turns to his sparring partner. “Lunch?”

“Huh?” Annabeth whips her eyes from the place Luke exited from as if being taken out a trance. “Oh, yeah. Lunch, right.” 

Percy raises yet another eyebrow at her but she just starts the walk back to the dining pavilion.

The rest of the afternoon passes slowly under the hot sun. Lunch is uneventful, and Percy makes good on his promise of a synchronized swimming show for Annabeth, Grover and the nymphs in the lake. After a lazy afternoon and a much-needed archery lesson with Chiron, campers retreat back to the dining pavilion for dinner, and then make the journey to the campfire amphitheater with full bellies and tired muscles, ready for a few hours of singing and laughter. 

A few songs in, and the sky has turned a deep shade of pink, as bright and tall orange flames soar into the darkening sky. Percy smiles as the Ares cabin performs a song after losing a bet to the Apollo cabin, singing of the Sun god’s beauty and many,  _ many _ talents. 

Just as the melody starts to end, Annabeth checks her wristwatch next to Percy, and abruptly says, “It’s time.”

Percy turns to look at her as she stands from her seat. “Now?”

“Yes, now,” she says, and grabs Percy’s hand and starts pulling him through the rows of laughing campers. 

“Woah, woah slow down!” Percy says as he stumbles and pulls on Annabeth’s hand, who turns around with a look of worry etched on her face as she stops at the exit. 

“What?” Percy asks, as he finds his balance. 

Annabeth shakes her head. “No, nothing. I just thought you tripped.”

“Well I did, you were dragging me,” he says, as his eyes land on their hands still holding the other’s. 

Annabeth follows his line of sight and quickly drops his hand. She clears her throat and starts walking briskly away from the campfire. They both wonder why their hands have suddenly become clammy. “Come on, he’s probably already waiting for us. Do you have the stuff?” 

Percy holds up the canvas bag and grins as Annabeth nods in approval. 

The pair walk along the edge of the woods, listening to the sounds of crickets and the occasional low howl of whatever monster is prowling through the trees. They pass the Big House which is casting long shadows in the last few minutes of dusk. They walk until they reach the edge of the strawberry fields, and the sweet smell of the ripe fruit fills the air. 

Grover stands in the field, bathed in pink light as the sun touches the horizon beyond the hill. Annabeth breaks into a small run and throws her arms around the boy, saying into his shoulder, “I can’t believe you leave in a few hours.”

The satyr smiles at Percy and Annabeth, “Hey, don’t worry, we still have some time before my meeting with the council.” 

Annabeth nods, and wipes something from under one of her eyes. She motions for Percy and Grover to sit on either side of her in between the winding strawberry plants. 

Percy furrows his brow and lays the bag in front of Annabeth who starts sorting through it. “I still don’t understand why they’re doing the send off ritual in the middle of the night.”

Grover starts pulling plush red strawberries off of their vines as he shrugs. “The voice of Pan is loudest at night,” he says casually as Percy’s mouth gapes at this. Annabeth swats at his leg, telling him to let it go. 

“Well, in any case,” Annabeth says, “we have some goodbye gifts for you.”

Grover’s eyes brighten in the fading light. Annabeth reaches into the bag, and pulls out a pair of reed pipes that shine gold. Grover’s mouth falls open as he reaches and gingerly takes the instrument out of Annabeth’s hands. “Oh my gods, you didn’t.”

Annabeth beams with pride at her choice in gift, watching as Grover inspects the wooden piece in awe. 

“I asked Beckendorf to re-enforce it with celestial bronze, so it shouldn’t break,” Annabeth says softly. 

“I love it. Thank you.” 

Percy clears his throat and lifts the bad up off of the ground. “So. My gift, it’s well, not as fancy, but here you go.” 

Grover takes the bag gingerly from Percy and nervously peers inside. After a second of Percy holding his breath, Grover throws his head in the air, and lets out one of his loud high laughs that only come out when he’s caught off guard. 

“You like it?” Percy asks, a small smile creeping onto his face. 

“Like it?” Grover meets Percy’s gaze with a look of surprise. “I love it!” 

Percy slumps in relief, as Annabeth smiles at him, grey eyes twinkling. “I told you he would love it,” she says quietly to Percy who gives her a silent look of thanks. Grover rummages through the bag and pulls out a handful of compact metal disks. 

“They’re travel-sized,” Percy says brightly, motioning to the bag filled with crushed aluminum cans. “I’ve been saving them for your trip.”

Grover lets out another laugh that itself is enough to get Percy and Annabeth to join him. “You’re a genius,” he says to Percy. “And now we have snacks  _ and  _ music!” 

Percy and Annabeth groan in unison, but their smiles linger on their faces. “Grover, are you  _ sure _ you want to play it now?” Annabeth asks. 

“Very sure!” Grover says, and immediately launches into a reed pipe rendition of ‘ _ All you Need is Love _ ’. 

As the sun sets over the strawberry fields of Camp-Half-Blood on a night in late summer, a trio of kids laugh and sing, chasing the remains of sunlight away, seemingly without a care in the world. The sounds of their smiles, the slightly off music, and the buzz of a wide-open field fill the cooling air. This is not the end of their story, this is much too simple, uncomplicated of an ending for them. There is pain ahead for, suffering and loss too great to imagine. But with the promise of more nights like these, and the word ‘ _ together _ ’, the three will manage.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there!! So yeah... a pretty different chapter today. These interludes will happen from time to time, but next chapter we'll be back with the Argo II. I'm a bit split on if I like how this turned out, so let me know your thoughts. It was kinda a pain to write, but I really wanted to spend some time with them when they were younger. 
> 
> Also about Percy's uhh sorta lame gift, I thought it was apt considering he is still a 12-year-old boy at this point, and after all Grover loved it, and that's all that matters right?
> 
> Anyways! I hope January is going okay for everyone, and I hope you all are safe and healthy more than anything!
> 
> As always, come say hi or leave thoughts in the comments! - Love you always


	11. Annabeth

**Annabeth**

“I need an address, or at least a semi-specific location to tell Festus,” Leo said, nervously tapping a quick rhythm on the surface of the table. “Just telling me _‘Charleston’_ isn’t specific enough. I don’t care if it’s a Walmart or the town square - just pick somewhere.”

The group had gathered once again in the mess hall early in the morning as the Argo II neared its destination in South Carolina. The seven demigods sat silently around the table, still reeling from the stories that had come out of the Atlanta aquarium with Percy, Frank, and Hedge’s escape. 

Jason let out a long sigh, rubbing both eyes with the heels of his hands. “I might know a place to start.” The group turned to look at the son of Jupiter. “Well actually two places. The first is the CSS _Hunley_ at Fort Sumter.” 

Annabeth raised an eyebrow at the words. The name was unfamiliar, but putting together the name and Charleston, she had a pretty good idea what it was. “Civil war ship?” 

“Submarine actually,” Jason replied. “We ran a scouting mission there a couple of years ago.”

“Why do you think we’ll find a map to ‘the Mark of Athena’ on a Confederate submarine?” Hazel said, eyebrows scrunching in confusion. 

Jason grimaced. “Well, we were actually there to scavenge for more imperial gold weapons. It was a Roman demigod made submarine.”

A stiff silence fell over the group. 

“Yikes,” Percy said eloquently.

Hazel’s face morphed into one of disgust as she scowled at the discovery. 

Jason raised his hands into the air, “Listen, I am not going to excuse the things Camp Jupiter has been involved in - but the museum has tons of old Roman relics, it’s worth a shot to poke around there.”

Frank folded his hands and placed them on the table. “You said there were two places we should look?” 

Jason nodded and Annabeth caught his eyes darting to Piper. “Yeah. There’s this place called the Battery, it’s right on the bay, not too far from the museum,” he paused and looked at Piper again, “I was with Reyna,” Annabeth saw Piper’s eyes tighten, “and we saw this ghost-spirit-like-lady. She would only let Reyna approach her.”

“I hate ghosts,” Leo muttered under his breath. 

“She never told me what the woman talked to her about, but she seemed pretty shaken up after that. It just seems like a place worth checking out.” 

Annabeth nodded, figuring that anything that could be productive would be a good idea. “Okay, so we send two groups. Who goes where?” 

“At minimum, Frank and I should go to the museum. I can show the group around since I’ve already been there and as a child of Mars, Frank will have more luck with the spirits,” Jason said. 

Frank shifted in his seat uncomfortably at the suggestion that he would have to deal with angry Roman spirits, but seemed to calm down once Hazel placed a small hand on his arm reassuringly. 

“And at the Battery, Reyna thought it was a gender thing, apparently the woman didn’t want any men, so it’s probably best for Piper, Annabeth and Hazel to take that one.”

“I’ll tag along with you and Frank,” Leo said facing Jason, “I’d love to see the tech _you all_ came up with, back in ancient times.”

“Hey, don’t link us to the Confederates,” Frank warned, gesturing at him and Jason. 

“If no one minds, I think I’ll hang back and check out the harbour. I want to ask some of the local nereids about the stuff we saw in the Atlanta aquarium,” Percy said, straightening in his seat. 

“Alright, so we’re all in agreement?” Annabeth said, looking towards the rest of the group who nodded at her question. “Okay, we should try and be quick, the Romans can’t be far behind us, and we’re on a strict deadline.” 

The air in the room shifted, and Hazel broke the tension that had quickly filled the empty spaces of the room. “Then onto Rome” 

Jason turned to look at the younger girl with a mixture of pity and determination on his face that Annabeth would have hated if it had been directed at her. “And onto Nico.” 

* * *

The group separated from there, and by the time Annabeth stepped onto the top deck after the ship had landed, Jason, Leo and Frank had already left for the museum. Coach Hedge seemed to be in a shouting match with a seagull, and Hazel and Piper were talking casually by the gangplank, waiting for Annabeth. 

Just as she started to walk towards the other two girls, a voice called out from behind her, “Hey, Annabeth! Wait up!” 

Percy climbed the last two steps, pulling himself into the morning sunlight. Annabeth felt her pulse quicken. That feeling hadn’t been unusual in the year before they had started dating. Before she had ever admitted to herself that she saw Percy romantically, she found herself getting nervous and that gods-awful fluttery feeling in her stomach when he would call her name, casually hug her, or pull her into the lake by the waist. But now, it wasn’t nerves. It was dread, as if she was bracing for barbed wire whenever they talked. 

Annabeth gave a small smile in greeting, and Percy smiled back sheepishly. “Uh, I just wanted to say to be careful out there.” 

She blinked, processing his simple sentence, that regardless, threw her off kilter. “Thanks. You too,” she said. 

“Yeah, well, I’ll be okay. It’s just the ocean,” he said rubbing the back of his neck, “but you have to deal with that ghost lady.”

“We’ll be alright,” she said, feeling Piper and Hazel’s eyes drilling holes into the back of her head. “I have _them_ to help, after all,” she turned and motioned to the two girls who were watching shamelessly, but turned around quickly at her words. 

“Alright well, see you soon?” he asked, eyeing her with apprehension. 

“Yeah, soon,” Annabeth said, her expression softening. Percy nodded, and Annabeth turned away from him, her heart clenching against her will. She schooled her expression into something neutral as she approached Hazel and Piper who were talking in hushed tones until they noticed Annabeth. 

“Ready?” Annabeth asked, praying that there would be no snide remarks, or persuasions to dissect how she felt about that last interaction with Percy, or gods forbid, analyse her feelings about him and their _situation_ as a whole. 

Apparently, someone up on Olympus was listening because Piper and Hazel nodded silently, and followed her onto the docks. 

The trio walked mostly in silence along the water, though a park filled with tall trees, and freshly mown grass. Huge mansions and elegant fountains were dispersed through the mostly deserted space this early in the morning, and each of the girls kept their eyes peeled for any sign of the mystery woman. 

Hazel was captivated, and possibly a little unnerved by the _southerness_ of it all, saying that the architecture and humidity reminded her of New Orleans. Something about her both wistful and pained expression made Annabeth decide to not press for any more details than Hazel chose to volunteer, and Piper seemed to agree, as both girls nodded pensively when Hazel would murmur quiet and melancholic words into the June air. 

Eventually after doubling back on their original path along the waterfront, Piper abruptly stopped, her eyes glued somewhere on the horizon over the bay. Hazel's eyes squinted as she looked at the water, trying to see what Piper had been transfixed by. “What? What is it?” Hazel asked. 

Piper's face went from one of surprise to anger as Annabeth finally made out a long bright shape on the water that was steadily moving towards the trio. 

“It’s _her_ ,” Piper bit out, now openly scowling as the figure of a stunningly beautiful woman came into focus.

As she moved forward, effortlessly gliding over the water, Annabeth’s jaw dropped. Her hair cascaded over her shoulders in waves of deep brown, both seemingly absorbing all surrounding sunlight and shimmering brightly. Her face was dominated by sharp features, that were both strong and understated. Green and brown eyes sat under a dark brow, and a sharp nose sat perfectly placed. Pink and full lips were poised in a mischievous smile over dark, tanned skin. Annabeth’s eyes couldn’t help rake the woman’s body in both envy and admiration; shapely curves under a fitted southern-Belle gown that made no efforts in modesty. Annabeth felt her jaw drop. 

The woman stopped a few feet away from them and beamed, “Hello darlings!” 

The scones were dry. They were perfectly baked, and still warm and buttery, but they tasted like clay in Annabeth’s mouth. She methodically took sips of steaming tea that felt lukewarm against her throat, and popped a perfectly ripe and plum strawberry in her mouth that tasted bitter and acrid. 

“Enjoying the refreshments, girls?” Aphrodite flashed a smile, as she poured her own cup of tea. 

The three girls nodded silently, taking a polite sip of their tea in unison. Annabeth eyed the numerous pieces of silverware in front of her, and settled on copying Piper’s movements in an effort to not appear totally clueless. 

“Yes, very much. Thank you for the tea, Aphrod….” Annabeth trailed off, scared of setting off an identity crisis for the goddess. 

“Oh either is fine,” Aphrodite waved a gloved hand over the table, brushing the social faux pas out of mind. “Aphrodite, Venus, _oh beautiful one_ , I’m really not particular.”

Annabeth and Hazel laughed awkwardly while Piper stared ahead in stoic silence.

“So,” Annabeth cleared her throat. “Jason mentioned that he and Reyna saw you.” 

“Ah yes, Reyna! Beautiful girl. Not very chatty… though I suppose the news I gave her wasn’t very nice.”

“What news did you give her?” Hazel asked, leaning forwards. 

“Oh you know, the usual heartbreak. She had thought that she and Jason were going to make quite the power couple,” Annabeth saw Piper narrow her eyes, “but I told her the fates had other ideas, isn’t that right, Piper?” Aphrodite raised perfectly sculpted eyebrows. “I hear you and him make quite the couple.” 

Piper snorted unceremoniously and took an aggressive bite out a scone. 

“And Hazel! Sweet, sweet Hazel. I have to say you and the son of Mars are adorable. I’ve always had a thing for the god of war, so I must commend you and say good choice!” 

Hazel tried to offer a smile, but it was strained and turned out looking more like a grimace. 

Annabeth felt the goddesses eyes on her before she heard her voice. 

“And finally, Annabeth.”

Annabeth raised her eyes to meet the goddesses, trying desperately to keep her expression from breaking, knowing that Percy’s name was bound to be spoken in the coming seconds. 

“How are you doing honey?” 

She blanched at the question, not having expected to be asked that. “I’ve been better,” she answered flatly. 

Aphrodite pouted, and shook her head. “Well it's absolutely tragic what Hera did, I was very upset that she meddled in your love story,” she said, as if Hera had played with her toys and she didn’t care to share. 

“You know about what happened to Percy?” 

“Oh yes, of course,” she said casually. 

Annabeth blinked. “Well what _do_ you know?” 

Aphrodite’s face contorted into what could only be described as a carefully constructed thinking face. There were no creases in her forehead, no frown lines around her mouth. She dangled a fork from her perfectly painted lips, as if begging to be asked what could be bothering her pretty little mind. It made Annabeth want to be sick. 

“Hmmm….” the goddess said mindlessly. 

Annabeth glanced at Piper and Hazel. The younger Roman’s face was one of amusement and confusion, with Hazel unable to tear her eyes from Aphro- or Venus? Piper, however, was staring at the pristine white linen table cloth, fingers rubbing small circles over her temples, as she clenched her jaw, determined not to give her mother any more of an audience. 

“Perseus is… lost..” the goddess purred. 

A dangerous emotion stirred in Annabeth’s chest, a burning anger that weighed heavy on the lungs and hampered logic. “What do you mean, ‘ _he’s lost_ ’?” she repeated, bitterness dripping from every consonant. 

Aphrodite took another moment to ponder Annabeth’s question, ignoring the hostility that the demigod was radiating. She closed her bright eyes, revealing perfectly smokey eyeshadow.

“If I am correct, which I always am-” her eyes quickly flashed, daring one of them to protest, “- when my dear friend Hera went to remove your beloved’s memories, and place him with that she-wolf, there was an… error.” 

Annabeth’s ears rung with the word. So something had gone wrong. Immediately her mind started running with the possibility that she had lost him forever. Aphrodite had daintily picked up her teacup and was taking a sip as if she hadn’t just dropped a grenade in Annabeth’s intricate and carefully constructed rationale in order for her to remain calm about _everything_. 

Piper noticed this and grabbed Annabeth’s hand which she hadn’t even registered was digging into the table. Piper started to rub soothing circles into the tops of her hands, and turned to her mother. “What kind of error?” she gritted out through clenched teeth. 

“Well, if my memory serves, after she wiped it for the first time-”

“First time? You mean she wiped his memory more than once?” Annabeth asked frantically. 

“Annabeth, it is rude to interrupt!” the goddess said angrily. She scoffed as if in disbelief and shook her head. “As I was saying! After the first time, Hera looked into his mind just to check that everything was in order, and she found _you_.” 

Aphrodite’s head was cocked to the slide and was looking at Annabeth with a mixture of pride and perplexion. “Me?” Annabeth asked at a low volume. 

“Mhm, yes,” she said, nodding. “Now, I suppose I should explain some more of how this whole memory business works, but it’s terribly boring, and I know you _are_ in a rush…” 

“We have time,” Hazel said defiantly, a calm and assertive edge to her voice. In that moment, Annabeth was infinitely thankful for the girl. Though she was the youngest at the table, her presence was more than necessary. With Annabeth’s emotional response to the news about Percy and Piper’s overwhelming disdain for her mother, they needed someone coherent. 

“Well in that case!” the goddess smiled, bearing perfectly straight and white teeth pulled straight from a toothpaste commercial. “Where were we? Ah, yes! Now, I believe the way Hera did the memory removal, was actually more of a suppressant. You see, she didn’t want the boys to be wandering around clueless forever, no! Piper, honey, Jason’s gotten his memories back, yes?”

Piper nodded tensely. 

“Exactly, that’s how it’s meant to work. They wake up, no idea in the world of anything before that moment - well of course they know their name, and how to walk and such, she couldn’t very well turn them into babies!” Aphrodite laughed at this, waving a lace fan in front of her face delicately, sighing on a high pitch. “And then a few weeks later, after they’ve gained the trust of the other camp, slowly they start to remember their life before. And _voila_! Memories no longer suppressed.

“But not all of Percy’s memories were suppressed. You stuck around. In his mind, you were the only thing left. Your face, your name, your voice. _So_ romantic, I’ve been telling everyone about it, and they all swooned! But in any case, that really threw a wrench in Hera’s master plan, and understandably. And I’m not totally sure what she did to get rid of you, but she did,” she stated matter of factly. 

Annabeth blinked. She couldn’t focus on a single thought in her head, it was like trying to pick out a whisper in the mix of sounds of a roaring river. He had remembered her. She was the _only_ thing he had remembered. 

She was immediately filled with a fresh wave of love and affection for Percy, that was overwhelmed by the fear that his remembering of her had possibly cost them everything. “How did she fix it?” Annabeth asked, trying to control her voice. 

“Oh I’m not sure,” Aphrodite said, smiling brightly and her voice chipper. “I suppose she could have tried the same method again of burying that like the others. Or she could have done something more permanent,” she shrugged her shoulders. 

Annabeth took a deep breath. “You mean permanently remove his memory of me?” she asked slowly. 

Aphrodite squealed in glee. “Isn’t it positively tragic? Yes that is very possible. Has he started getting any of his memories back?” 

Annabeth paused, not knowing if it was her information to share.

Aphrodite looked at her torn expression and picked up a grape from the silver platter of fruit. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

Annabeth nodded hesitantly. “But at the rate Jason remembered after he woke up, Percy should remember everything by now.” 

The goddess raised an eyebrow and curled her lips into a sneer. “How am I supposed to know? I am not the one who kidnapped your beloved. Though I suppose…” her expression softened slightly, “if Hera had to tamper with his memory any more than she did with Jason’s, it does make sense that it would take longer for his to come back.” 

Annabeth took a breath and closed her eyes to try and process just a fraction of what she had just learned. “How can you even know all of this?” 

“Oh Annabeth, darling. Well you see, many years ago I met a young pair of demigods, who were so clearly head over heels for one another, but neither of them knew that yet. Well in anycase, I took a - let’s say _special interest_ in their romance and have been keeping up for the past, well, what is it? Five years now?”

Piper looked from her mother back to Annabeth, who was having a hard time focusing on anything but the words ‘permanent removal’. “Thank you for your help Mother-”

“Help? Oh dear me, look at the time,” she lifted a slender gloved hand to her eyes to check the time on a wristwatch that wasn’t there. “We’ve been chatting away for ages, and I’ve not even talked about what we _need_ to talk about!” 

Aphrodite then launched into another version of what they already knew; the gods were in deep shit. The convergence of the Roman and Greek camps had left almost all of the gods incapacitated, except, of course, for the lovely vision in southern-belle fashion that sat before the trio of demigods. Aphrodite revealed that Hera had been all but banished from Olympus for her meddling with Percy and Jason, Athena had been particularly overcome with the trouble of split personalities, which Annabeth was already much too aware of. 

Possibly the second most shaking news Annabeth received from the encounter with the love goddess, aside from the revelations about Percy’s memories, had been the confirmation of the theory Annabeth had been holding close to her chest for a few days now; this quest was about _the_ statue. The Mark of Athena would lead her to the Athena Parthenos.

“And this is the only thing that’ll stop the two camps from going to war?” Annabeth asked, already suspecting the answer. 

“Oh yes dear, I’m afraid that without the statue, war is quite inevitable between your two groups.” 

Annabeth felt her stomach do a somersault at her words, and for the first time she felt that the task that had been thrown at her was not just unfair and dangerous, it was impossible. But she could not fail. In order to defeat Gaia, they needed the gods to fight the giants. In order to have the gods available and functioning, they needed the camps to be at peace. And in order for the camps to be at peace, they needed a statue that hadn’t been seen in thousands of years. And to find that statue, Annabeth _could not_ fail. It wasn’t an option.

And to make matters worse, it wasn’t just the insurmountable task, it was how resoundingly alone she was in it. Annabeth had fought Titans and won. She was used to the odds being stacked against her. She had held up the weight of the sky, for gods’ sake. But every time, Percy had been either by her side, or not far away. He had been the most constant presence in her life since he had woken up in the sickbay that summer day. Luke had betrayed her, Thalia joined the Huntresses, and her parents were lackluster. But Percy - he was her rock. 

When he had told her about his experience in the River Styx, about how Annabeth had been his tether to the mortal world, the instant she realised what he was admitting, Annabeth knew in her bones, her soul, that he was the same for her. He kept her grounded and afloat. When life and the fates were pulling her away, he had always been there to pull her back to shore. 

But now, once again with the weight of the world on her shoulders, Annabeth felt alone. And it felt like drowning. 

Piper pulled her in from her swirling thoughts with a firm squeeze of her hand and a single quick reassuring word, “Annabeth?” 

Annabeth snapped her face back to the table and tried to find what they had been talking about. “Sorry, lost in thought. What were you saying?” 

Aphrodite chuckled and winked at Annabeth as if they were sharing some inside joke. “Oh honey, I know what it looks like when someone has love on their mind. Never apologize for that!” Annabeth felt blood rush to her face at the goddess's words. “Anyways, I was just saying that the clue you’re after is a map at Fort Sumter. Terribly depressing part of town, but if you really must go…”

Annabeth stopped listening as the air around them suddenly turned cold. Both Piper and Hazel seemed to have picked up on the change in atmosphere, and all three girls started whipping heads around in search of danger. 

The revelation came when Annabeth heard Piper say, “Shit,” as she looked to the sky where a chariot pulled by two grand eagles was quickly moving towards the trio. 

“Well, this has been lovely, but you really should get going, darlings. Can I interest you in some food for the road?” Aphrodite smiled prettily at them. 

Annabeth tore her gaze from the woman one last time, and pulled out her knife from where it had been concealed in her clothes. “Come on, we have to get to the ship,” she said as she broke out in a run, heading for the docks. 

Distantly, Annabeth heard Hazel call out a, ‘thanks’ over her shoulder as the three sprinted towards the Argo II. 

They almost made it. 

All through the park, Annabeth could hear and feel the eagle soaring just above and behind her, over the sound of her own heavy breathing and thundering heartbeat in her ears. 

But as soon as the girl’s feet made contact with the wooden planks of the dock, Annabeth felt the shadow of the chariot swoop over their heads, and the two eagles landed in between the trio and the ship. The chariot that the eagles had been towing held two Roman soldiers, and a further two eagles dropped more Romans in full battle armor on the dock. 

They were outnumbered. 

The faces of the Romans were covered by gold helmets with deep purple plumes that matched the body armor all wore. And though all were dressed identically, Annabeth would forever recognize the screech that was Octavian's voice. 

“Surrender traitors of Rome!”

Hazel stepped forward, wielding her long cavalry sword. “Octavian, you don’t want to do this! It was a misunderstanding.”

Piper nodded and also took a step forward, extending a hand in a show of peace, “Yes, we mean you-”

“Oh shut it, you sorceress. I know charmspeak when I hear it!”

Piper faltered for a moment before trying again, her tone more forceful this time. “Octavian, put down-”

“Do it!” the augur ordered his soldiers. All four of them pulled something from their pockets and proceeded to stuff it in their ears before Piper could utter another word. 

“Shit,” Piper muttered. 

Annabeth looked over the Romans to the Argo II, desperately searching for Coach Hedge, but he was nowhere to be seen. Jason, Leo and Frank were not due to meet them back at the ship for several more hours, and Percy was deep in the harbor. 

Percy… if she could somehow signal to him that something was wrong, maybe… 

Octavian yelled across the docks, “Drop your weapons you greek scum!” He and his soldiers started warily approaching Annabeth, Hazel and Piper. 

Both of Annabeth's companions looked at her with eyebrows raised, seemingly asking what the plan was. Annebeth set her jaw in preparation for the gamble she was about to take. 

Annabeth took a steadying breath and flung her dagger as far into the bay as she could. 

Octavian looked between the water where her dagger had sunk and Annabeth, disbelief and confusion written all over his pale face behind the helmet. “What the hell was that for?” he demanded. 

Annabeth blinked and offered him a sickly sweet smile, tilting her head to the side and holding her hands together. He couldn’t hear her, but she offered an innocent, ‘oops!’. 

Piper and Hazel seemed equally confused, both girls’ eyes wide. 

Annabeth held her breath waiting. If this didn’t work… 

_Come on Percy._

That dagger was not something she took lightly. It had been a gift from Luke, and even after all he had put her through, it remained one of her most prized possessions, second only to her camp necklace which held all of her beads, her fathers ring, and the red piece of coral Percy had gifted to her. 

Annabeth wouldn’t have thrown the dagger if she didn’t think it would work. But then again… how was he to know that it was even her dagger? What if he thought she dropped it, or some totally un-Annabeth move? As the seconds dragged on since the sound of celestial bronze hitting saltwater had rung across the docks, Annabeth felt her confidence drop, deep dread sinking into her stomach. That was it - that had been her only plan. And now she was weaponless. 

She started scrutinizing the Roman soldiers, trying to assess which ones she could take out without a weapon. That was before their reinforcements came. They were screwed. 

Annabeth pushed the embarrassment and shame of her failed scheme away to the side. “Okay, new plan-”

That was when the bay exploded. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, long time no see! 
> 
> Hope you all are okay, sorry for the long time between this chapter and the last; the next one should be faster. Also hope this clears some stuff up about why Percy's memory is working the way it is! Also, next chapter we'll be back with his POV. 
> 
> As always, I love to hear any thoughts, feelings or questions you have! I've said it before and I'll say it again: it blows my mind that anyone is reading this, you all are totally facilitating my cooping mechanisms, so thank you. 
> 
> Hopefully see you soon!


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